The Wandering One
by Surrealistic Strawberry
Summary: It is now 2007. Will fierce little Hana succeed in freeing the Legendary Warriors? What has become of Yoh? Anna? Everyone, for that matter. Updated yet again. READ, REVIEW, AND, MOST IMPORTANTLY, ENJOY!
1. He's a Little Runaway

"The Wandering One"

He rustled under the layers on his futon, gripping the soft, clean blankets and rubbing them against his cheeks for warmth. It was very chilly, and the clouds had an icy look about them that created a sense of loneliness.

The boy sighed. He knew it was still too early. After all, the sun was still hidden over the horizon line. But he was a precocious child who didn't need an alarm to tell him what to do. He threw the covers off of him in a flash and rushed over to put some clothes on.

Scratching his head full of thick, bushy blond hair, he lifted the suspenders and snapped them. Overalls were the only clothes he needed. His free-spirited feet did not even dream of the day when they would don themselves with socks.

He crept down the hallway, crawling silently along so that he would not be heard. He couldn't afford that. Extremely intelligent for a six-year-old, he carefully got up from his crouched position to step into the kitchen.

"Hana-san."

"GWAAH!!" He jumped at the sound of his name, seemingly out of nowhere. He quickly turned his head toward the sound, looking to the direction of the television across the hall.

Heart still thumping wildly, he frowned and grit his teeth. It was just his mochirei (guardian spirit).

"Damn it, what exactly are you doing?" Hana inquired. He was still flustered, but managed to keep his voice down so that the others in his house would not hear him.

"Exactly what it appears, Hana-san," the cat told him. He raised his eyes and took the pipe from his mouth and into his right paw. Smiling contentedly, he finished his reply: "Reading."

"Yeah? Well, you keep doing that. 'Reading.'" Hana exhaled exasperatedly. "You scared me."

"Tsk," Matamune of the Cats clicked his tongue against his lips as he bookmarked his page. "And to think that I have tried so hard to become the opposite of the so-called 'haunting' ghosts that so many Western films love to depict. So much for my many years of death." Matamune floated over to his third master in about one thousand-seven years. "What are you up to?"

"Nothing, Matamune," Hana told the cat. "I can do this without you."

"Hana, I won't let anything happen to you. I stand in front of you firmly." The cat blocked his path into the kitchen. "I will not move."

"Jama ja yo!" Hana yelled, his voice barely audible. You're in my way!

"I was not pulled from a state of Nirvana for nothing," the cat lectured. "Your mother knew that I was needed for your father before the Shaman Fight was concluded almost seven years ago. And of course, after my assistance, I felt honored to see my Master's son brought into this world. You are a very special person, and your parents are the Great Ones. This means that they are not only great themselves, but that they greatly love you, too. While they are away, you are always to be watched out for. That is why I will not let you enter this room until I know what you are up to."

"Fine, guess I'll starve then," Hana sighed.

Matamune blinked. "Aah."

Hana attempted to walk through Matamune, but he forgot about the cat's solid state and fell to the ground. "Itai..."

"Hana-san, you shouldn't worry me like that," Matamune told him as the boy ate his soup. "An old cat like me shouldn't be chasing after such a mischievous child in the first place. Your father was nowhere near as hard to watch as you are—in any of his lives."

Hana sighed, as he often did around Matamune. "I want you to tell me if anyone wakes up."

The spirit narrowed his eyes, his intense neon-green slits. "I will not."

"Yes, you will!" Hana stood up straight and stamped his foot. Matamune didn't quiver a whisker. "Please..." Hana added a little more timidly.

"I need to know what you want me to do that for," Matamune insisted.

Hana's temper flared, and it came out as an exclamation at his mochirei: "NO, YOU DO NOT! COME ON, EVERYONE IS ALWAYS HOLDING ME BACK BECAUSE OF WHO I AM, BUT I HAVE AN AMBITION! I'M GOING TO UNITE THE LEGENDARY WARRIORS SO THAT TOUCHAN AND KAACHAN CAN RETURN! I CAN PROVE IT TO EVERYONE!"

"What is going on?"

Matamune unblinkingly turned toward the voice first. Hana was stationary, for a moment. He shut up and winced. He knew that his plans were ruined now. _Kuso_...

"Hana-kun...what are you trying to do, give me a heart attack?" The woman gazed desperately at the child she loved.

"Bachan..." Hana hung his head low. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"I know that you most certainly did not," said the woman, clad in a long black dress. She tiptoed over to Hana, her pink hair swishing about. She knelt down to look at him directly with her big, rosy-hued eyes. Matamune bowed his head out and took his leave to let them speak openly.

"Hana, we have talked about this before," the woman said. "You cannot just say these things when you have no control over them. You know that your parents are strong, intelligent people who will succeed in what they set out to do."

"But it's taking too long! Everyone says that and I can't believe them anymore," Hana explained, eyes growing wider with each word. "I can do this, Bachan. You know I'm strong! Along with Matamune, I can do anything."

"But you are still so young. I don't think you realize the consequences that your actions can lead to."

"Yes, I so do! Don't talk to me like I'm an idiot; I know that all of you are just hoping that I'll stand by and not tarnish the "Greatness" of my so-called "Legendary" parents. As long as they are away from me, they can accomplish their duties and keep making everyone realize how wonderful they are. And I don't care if they don't need me..." Hana's deep brown eyes welled up. "I just want everything to be normal for us."

"They _do_ need you! That is why you stay here and behave just like any other normal boy your age. You would be going through the same thing if your parents came home. You are not left alone, Hana," his "aunt" reassured him kindly. She tightly hugged him.

"Bachan..." Hana whispered in her arms. "I love you."

"I love you too, Hana." Now she was close to tears. "More than you could ever know."

Hana pulled away. He grinned a silly smile. "That's why I am going to prove myself to be a warrior! You will be very proud of me!" He darted off with the speed that only small, spirited children possess.

"Hana! Get back here—"

The door slammed with a mighty 'BATAN!!'

"Aaahh..." She slumped to the ground. "This is getting tiring. I worry everyday."

"Tamao-san, you know it cannot be helped," Matamune said reassuringly putting his paw on her shoulder. "He is who he is."

"I know that," said Tamao. She half-smiled and scratched behind Matamune's ears, him purring involuntarily. "It's still so hard. I care for him too much."

"Tamao-chan?"

"Ah," the woman looked to the doorway. "Ryu-san."

"Want me to go get him?"

"Sure," Tamao said softly. "I'll call him off school...?"

"Yes."

"Sou desu ka. Thank you very much, Ryu-san."

"Iya-iya, it's nothing. But first, let me make you some breakfast. Should I take some to him, by the by?"

Tamao giggled a little. "He ate his in a hurry," she explained, gesturing toward the empty bowl at the table. "I see no need."

"Well, I guess it'll just be you and I then, Tamao-chan." Ryu snuck up from behind, his hair still let down from its usual pompadour. He kissed her cheek.

"Ah! Don't do that, Ryu-san!" Tamao fanned her blushing face. Ryu just shrugged and got to work as the Asakuras' cook. Secretly, Tamao smiled facing away from him at the table, waiting for her breakfast and his company.

Matamune chuckled to himself as he pretended to be absorbed in his book. Then, he looked down at the bear-claw necklace around his little furry neck. It was what kept him tangible.

"Yoh-san; Anna-san...You may be coming home sooner than you expect."


	2. The Mysterious Creatures

"Hufff...hf...hf..."

He had taken an alternate road this time. There was no way that he would allow himself any help.

However, he was aware that he was running out of breath..._fast_. Even a fireball such as Hana wheezes after long distances, particularly if he is cursed with short legs. The boy didn't want to stop, though; what would be the point in running away, then? Surely he wasn't going to let everyone down.

_Especially_ not his parents.

Panting, he stopped at a slanted house with a gate running across its side. Relieved at the support it could offer him, he whispered to himself—"Finally,"— and propped his little elbow in-between the chain links.

_Crap...I really need some water. I think I ate too fast..._ Hana supposed. He knew he couldn't rest for long, though, and with his determination self-rejuvenated, he lifted his head up high.

His eyes returned to his surroundings and focused. The first thing that Hana saw was a white pick-up truck. He eyed it curiously, ever aware of his environment.

When the vehicle began to slow about three meters behind him, Hana's eyes bulged. "Geez!!" His speed picked up, and the truck revved up once more to trail behind him.

_What the heck? The world is full of weirdos! And people think that ghosts are scary? _Hana didn't stop running even as he heard the brakes screech loudly, the motor die down, and the slam of the truck's door. His pace picked up when he heard the soft clacking of footsteps coming up fast.

"Aah!" Something had latched onto his suspenders! It felt like a gigantic banana bunch through his overalls. Hana dared turn around, and he wore the meanest face that he could muster.

Looking up towards the figure that blocked the sun, Hana's face was tickled by a million _**long,**_ greasy black hairs. The monster of a man wore large, sleek shades, and had a small amount of facial hair.

Hana ground his teeth hard as he felt around in his pocket for no more than a second.

"Kono yarouuuu..." Hana cursed. "You LET GO OF ME!!!"

A brick-red stone not unlike a primitive, carved blade rolled through Hana's fingers. This was his prized Futsu no Mitama.

And it shot up in between the legs of the tall, hairy monster.

"EHHHHH...YAAH..." the thing howled as its mouth started to foam. It wobbled a little, grabbed its crotch, and fell face first to the pavement. The creature appeared defeated.

Hana had had a feeling that it was male.

Just to be safe, though, Hana turned on his heel and made haste. However, he was not quick enough to escape the monster's long fingers latching onto the belt loop directly above Hana's rear end.

"Don't...you dare..." Did all monsters have familiar voices?

"I said get AWAY, you SICKO!!" Hana cried. He felt his straps cut into his shoulders from being pulled in the opposite direction his feet headed.

"Hana-san, that is quite enough." Matamune appeared in front the small shaman.

"Mata...?" Hana looked on incredulously. "Hey, why don't you HELP ME GET RID OF THIS CREEP?!"

"All right." Rising, the monster lifted Hana up with ease, although the beast itself continued to shake. "To think that I just came to give you lift, Little Master."

In the long, hairy arms of the strange animal-like being, Hana was eye level with it. Well, he would be, if he could see its eyes. He swiftly brushed the hair away with his chubby little fingers.

Immediately upon revealing the face of his stalker, Hana was relieved. "Ryuuuu!" The terror of not more than a minute ago received a great big hug.

"Aww..." Ryu smiled at the realization that Hana's small arms could not even touch his shoulderblades, but he soon resumed wincing. His member was still throbbing. Matamune sighed deeply and smiled. It was fortunate that Ryu had a big heart, and undying loyalty to Hana's father.

"Wow, you scared me!" Hana exclaimed cutely through the snuggle. "I've never seen your hair all down and long and stuff!"

"Hm? In all your six years of life?" Ryu chuckled. "Well, I guess if you're not even worldly enough to know what I look like without my 'do, you shouldn't be running away from home."

Matamune crept into the truck to resume reading. Hana's arms peeled away. "Hey, put me down, now, Ossan."

"What?" Ryu asked blankly. "Why?"

Hana struggled, but Ryu wouldn't let him go. The frustrated child frowned. "Because I'm not going back to school. I hate it there, anyways. And I can't learn anything that will bring together the Legendary Warriors."

Ryu laughed a little. "But Hana, what about the part that kept me in school as long as it did?"

Hana tilted his bushy head to the side. "What's that?"

"All the hot girls, of course!" Ryu stated matter-of-factly as he winked.

"..." Hana grimaced and stuck his tongue out. "Nyeeh, gross. Besides, the girls think it's funny to throw dandelions all over me all of the time."

Ryu shifted Hana's weight to the other arm and lowered his sunglasses. He knew what the boy's hang-up was. "You don't have that girly a name."

"I'm no Flower." Pouting, Hana looked away.

"No, but you are the spitting image of both your parents. Your name should be worn proudly."

"Ryu?"

"Yes?"

"Put me down!" Hana gripped his Futsu no Mitama a little tighter and brought it once more into view with a mischievous smirk.

Ryu stared at Hana, undaunted by the wordless threat. "Bocchan...you're not going to school today, you know."

Hana blinked quickly. "Just like last time?"

Ryu snorted, "You mean just like the last _couple_ times?"

With a bright smile, Hana told Ryu, "Let me ride in the back again, Ryu?"

A couple minutes later, the truck accelerated with three passengers in tow.

_In Beijing..._

"This is our stop," said the woman to her partner. She drew a significant amount of attention to herself on that train. It wasn't only because she was shrouded in a heavy black cloak that concealed her body to a ridiculous extent, but because in a sea of dark-haired Chinamen, the golden hair that occasionally peeked from her hood attracted light like nothing else in the entire car. Her eyes were determined to keep down, and they resembled blue-tinged pearls. However still her eyes were, the tone of her voice rose ever so slightly the next time she spoke.

"Moshimoshi?" The woman muttered, prodding the man next to her.

His response was a loud snore.

She kept a solemn face, but she smiled inside. _He's such an obaka..._

The "idiot" was tall, but not as tall as Ryu. Besides, that was not very apparent when he was slumped in an uncomfortable position one would never guess was used for _rest_. He was wrapped in a long white cloak that was left hanging open to show his perceptibly dirty, (once) white, long-sleeved shirt and a very baggy pair of black pants. His dirt-encrusted, sandaled feet tapped the floor while he slept—this was a habit usually reserved for when he listened to his music. His hair was the color of dark chocolate; almost black. It was also twice as long as the woman's, with long bangs that covered his closed eyes. His lips were smile-plastered as he drooled in his dormant state.

The blonde sighed. She looked up for a split second at the lethargic one's bulky orange headphones, which were resting behind his ears. Without so much as a blink, her hands poked out of their sleeves and her small, princesslike fingers pulled the cupped headphones apart from his head. Then, she let go; they clapped over his ears loudly.

"ITAIIII—!!!" The man shouted with a jump, his legs flying up. Falling out of his seat, he now attracted even more attention than before.

He was definitely awake now.

Turning his head quickly to the left and right, his gaze eventually settled on the woman in black.

"Let's go," she said coolly. "That attendant has been waiting to push us off."

The man grinned. "Oh. I see." Standing up and brushing himself off, he waved a friendly hand at the car attendant. The attendant was obviously perplexed by the two inconspicuous travelers. "Forgive me! Have a nice day!" He had a goofy grin that spread from ear to ear across his sharp, attractive face.

The woman brushed past him towards the door, and tugged lightly on his cloak.

He felt it tighten. He had known her long enough to realize that that meant, "We should have been off of this train five minutes ago." So, he bowed and quickly jumped off to join the black-concealed woman.

When the both of them were off, passengers still on the ride continued to keep their eyes glued out the window. It was impossible not to notice the two, and it was almost as hard to keep from staring.

The train began rolling again. The cloaked lady who had just gotten off would not waste any time. She started to briskly make her way through the many people in the station. The man with her tried to keep up, taken aback at her hurry and hoping that they would not become separated.

"Anna!" he resorted to calling.

The woman stopped for him and turned around. "I'm right here. A meter in front of you."

"I know..." The man in dingy white scratched behind his neck. "I just worry about you, is all. Are you okay?"

"Yes," she replied quietly and without feeling.

"Sure? That was a long train ride, after all, I'd understand—"

"You know that I can handle myself."

That silly grin came across his face again. "Yes, my Sweet. But can you handle yourself _plus_ one?"

"I told you, I'm just fine. It's not like you to worry, so stop it."

"...Are you hungry...?" he whispered gently to her.

She paused a moment. "Starved."

"Aww, why didn't you _say_ so, My Love? I'm so sorry."

"Don't be sorry," she said shortly. "There's no reason. You didn't do anything." In her heart, though, of course she knew that he did. If it wasn't for him, she wouldn't be in her current state.

"But you're hungry, right?!" He had an anxious look on his face.

"Yes, but-"

"Let's go, then!"

The woman called Anna sighed for the tenth time since they boarded the train in the first place. "Keep it down," she ordered in a soft voice.

"Huh? What's wrong?"

"I told you to keep your Japanese down. It draws attention to us."

"Oh. Sumasen."

They continued on, with the all of the eyes on Beijing's streets following them wherever they went.

Whether they spoke any language at all or not.


	3. The Baby Driver

"_Yoh. Yoh. Yoh. Yoh. Yoh."_

_'Is that my name?'_

_It was called over and over again. He thought he heard it; was it a dream?_

"_Yoh. Oh, God I Love You, Yoh. Please wake up to me. Don't be gone."_

_'Here I am!' He knew that his place was with her. 'Such a lovely voice,' he thought. 'I can't be dreaming.'_

_He made up his mind. With determination, he decided to face the woman calling from the other side of life. Or death. Or wherever he was lingering right now. Whatever it was, he knew in his subconscious that the woman whose voice this belonged to could make his existence an intense, burning Hell..._

_Or a peaceful state of Heavenly bliss._

_His eyes peeled open to see white all around him. Light enveloped him through the broad, crystal-clear window at his left, illuminating his smooth, boyish complexion as though he were the Saviour. _

_'If this is Paradise...it looks an awful lot like a hospital.'_

_Disoriented, he clutched his head. He felt a couple scabs and scratches on his forehead, verifying that he was still human. He felt refreshed, but more importantly, very alive._

_But what was the weight on his chest...? And he knew that someone close by was crying._

_He focused his eyes through the luminosity that threatened to blind him (Author Comment: Just what do hospitals try to do to their patients with that fierce brightness, anyway? Does the whiteness prepare you for death at any moment?). He looked down toward the end of the bed._

_There, laying her head on top of him, was Anna. If he didn't feel so joyously bound to the Earth, he would have mistaken her for an angel. Her hair shone more brilliantly than the Sun, and her tears had the quality of multi-faceted crystal._

_Beautiful._

_He smiled._

_Finally sensing his consciousness, Anna gasped and looked up at him. Her full, rosy cheeks had streams of both dry and wet tears trailing down; she had obviously been weeping for a long time. Unblinking, she spoke._

"_Yoh?" Her usually brave tone was gone. She had been worrying for three days before Yoh arose. Besides that, she was about to face the moment of truth that would, ultimately, define her life. "Is it you?"_

_He looked down at Anna's nervous expression. Something in her concern and care touched him, and yet..._

_To see her like this was really, really funny._

"_Heh," he laughed. "Ahah...ahahahaha—OOF!!"_

_Why had she resorted straight to the **Legendary Left**? Now _he_ was crying._

_Anna's eyebrows kneaded upwards, her features overflowing with the worry welling up from her heart. "Don't...you EVER SCARE ME LIKE THAT! DON'T, DON'T, **DON'T DON'T DON'T**!!!"_

_He laid his index finger atop her lips. Mouth upturned in a toothless, soothing smile, he gazed at his fiancee._

"_Anna," he whispered to her. "I did it."_

_Anna began sobbing all over again. She flung herself close to him and squeezed him tightly around the ribcage, never uttering a word. She wanted to keep her thankful emotions to herself as much as possible_

"_ANNA!! CHO—king--m-must--let go..." Yoh gasped, his lungs being crushed. Anna, as always, was deceivingly strong._

_Anna would not let him go, and held him even tighter. "I...can't believe it. I...I..." _

_It was very unlike Anna to display her emotions so openly. But Yoh was grateful for the warmth it brought him, and he realized that what he went through during the fight with his brother must have been just as traumatic for her—if not more traumatic—than it was for him. After all, he was unconscious directly afterwards. Until about ten minutes before she...hugged(!) him, actually. _

"_I can't believe it, either, Anna," he cried, throwing his head back and sinking his shoulders in rapture. "I really can't." He tried to wrap his arms around her waist to pull her close, comforted by her presence more and more with each moment._

_He couldn't._

_He tried, but he could not reach around her! Where was the dainty, trim waist that he remembered?_

_Anna, bewildered, pulled away a little when Yoh loosened his hold on her. _

_She stared at him, silently demanding an explanation. She had been the happiest she had ever felt, and was actually letting it show for once. She didn't care anymore; she was not his **trainer** anymore. _

_She was going to become his wife. _

_Why did her soaring spirit have to falter?_

_Yoh's hands came back to him, and they curiously caressed her belly. His eyes met hers, his expression swept with surprise. "Anna...! You...We're—?" _

_She blushed and looked down to the feet that she could no longer see. Her palms resting on the backs of his hands, she nodded._

"_We're going to have a baby. In a little over a month." At her own confession, she did something she rarely did. She demurely smiled._

"_..." Yoh fell silent, his mouth hanging open. He had risen again after three days, and immediately found out that he was to be a fifteen-year-old father?It was too much for him to handle._

_Did his family members know? What did they think?_

_Did his friends know?_

_Was Anna prepared to be a mother?_

_And...WHY HADN'T HE BEEN INFORMED?!!_

_That's when it dawned on him. Before the final fight, Yoh hadn't really seen Anna in a while or spent any quality time with her. Did someone else try to tell him?_

_Yes._

_Amidamaru did, right before the fight with Asakura Yohken._

_Wait, when did they...?_

_He calculated in his head a moment. Approximately...around the time before he left for the second round of the Shaman Fight._

_Oops._

_Sensing that Yoh was feeling faint, Anna propped him up and supported his weary head in her hands. She ran her fingers through his hair and situated herself on the bed with him._

_She kissed him on the forehead, not expecting a word._

_She was just as scared as he was._

_But Yoh shook off his initial reaction one moment later and looked up at the girl that he had grown to love—through the training, through the time apart, through her bitchiness. He looked at the girl who had taken such good care of him and would lovingly bear his child. _

_And he smiled back at her, knowing things would work out._

"_I'm so happy for us. This is great news! And Anna?"_

"_What?"_

"_I Love You."_

"Anna...?"

"WHAT?" she asked, turning abruptly.

Yoh whined and shut his eyes. "Suman." He was prepared for her moodiness, as she was a woman with child (and...well, Anna), after all. "But we are here, you know."

"Hmn—?" Anna looked up. She had been lost in thought, wondering why Yoh was being so overconcerned towards her compared to his laxness during her first pregnancy. She didn't realize that she had absentmindedly been led by her husband to a place that he had been, but never she.

The Tao Stronghold.

With invisible reluctance, Anna composedly inquired, "How are we going to break in?"

"'Break in'?"

"You don't just expect us to be able to walk right through the entrance, do you?"

Yoh grinned at her and shrugged. "It's worth a shot, right?"

As Anna slapped her forehead in disbelief, Yoh's raw, masculine hand rolled into a fist and headed for a knock on the door to the "Xuan-Ming" level...

_Heading down a bumpy, muddy terrain..._

"RYUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Hana was clinging for his life to the back hatch of the truck.

It was absolutely no use. Matamune was no more likely to hear Hana's cries than a deaf old man while he pored over a book. Not only this, but earplugs were tightly squished into his pointy ears to block out Ryu's blasting radio.

The driver of the truck? He was sticking his left hand into the "Kaminoke-no-Gunko" tub that was next to him, and slapping it onto his hair. Ryu's pride and joy was nearly ready to face the day: his pompadour.

However, with one hand smothered with greasy gunk and the other meticulously combing through Ryu's thick black locks, the steering wheel was at the mercy of his knobbly knees. The truck swerved left and right at ninety kilometers per hour, and Ryu was obliviously ignoring the honks from cars in every direction while he jammed to "sweet tunage."

Hana was getting extremely aggravated. With all the strength he could muster, he struck the back of the truck with the Futsu no Mitama and used it as an anchor to tow himself back into the truck.

"_Come...on...!!" _Hana yanked and yanked on the back, his bare feet getting calloused from his repetitive kicks against the back bumper. _"Just...a little MORE...!!!"_

Hana's forehead leaked perspiration, his weak little arms never having to support his entire weight before in his short life. He was not going to give up! He would persevere! He would—

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" He slammed against the metal above the back bumper and tumbled to the ground. The truck had jerkily halted, springing his face forward and into the hatch he had struggled so hard to overcome.

Music turned off along with the ignition, Ryu heard the thud of "cargo" hitting the ground behind the vehicle. "What the heck was that...?"

"Mm?" Matamune's left ear twitched, and he deftly unplugged his ears. "Ah, the ride has stopped, ne?"

Ryu got out, closed the door, and made his way to the back of the robust white automobile. There he saw Hana lying face down on the ground.

"YAA—H! BOCCHAN!!!" Ryu cried despairingly. He turned Hana over. The boy's nose was bleeding badly, his eyes were swollen, and he himself was unconscious.

Matamune's pipe fell when his little cat lips fell open. He instantaneously hopped out the truck window to look for help around the milieu.

Nothing. Just a bunch of green plants everywhere he turned. It seemed that Ryu had driven them straight into the middle of a field.

"Ryu-san...?" Matamune started to query, "Where are we?"

"Etou..."

A voice called from the far side of the field. "What's up?"


	4. It's Not Easy Being Blue

"Ah...!"

The door opened up slowly, as though it possessed deliberation in itself. Yoh pulled his hand back quickly, turning to Anna.

His wife was looking on expectantly at the hallway that stretched before them. She knew that the palace had more mysteries and dire risks than Yoh had ever fathomed in his life. Wait, where was Yoh...?

"Come on, Anna!" He waved his hand to her from the corridor, beckoning like a small child.

_Yet there he is, just **stepping** forward without a care. _

Heaving something between a laugh and a sigh, Anna set foot inside.

_In another country..._

"...yeah, I noticed that right away."

"You will notice even more similarities as time goes on, I'm sure."

"Eh. No matter what, he doesn't have half the ability to pull through with this. He's just a little kid."

"Oh-hoh, you'd be surprised. The little master has unnatural courage and strength."

"That's why he fell off of your truck...?" The sound of pouring water and steam sizzling up into the air permeated the room.

"I don't really mean THAT kind of strength and you know it!"

"OI OI, no need to get so hostile!!"

"..." Ryu glanced down. "I just can't say that I know you much anymore. You should not act so familiar."

While it was silent, Hana tried to open his big, almond brown eyes. However, the red, swollen lids kept them from being exposed fully to his surroundings.

"I'm going to go out and get some fresh air."

"You do that, Ryu," the man's voice said. Audibly smiling, he added, "Out here, you have no idea what good some nice, unpolluted air will do."

The sham of a door squeaked loudly as it shut.

"Aw man, I think it got a little too hot..." The man left behind scratched his head as he put out the fire underneath the burner.

Lifting the kettle, he decanted the boiling water onto a soft washcloth.

"AAAAAAHHH!!!!!!!" The grown man screamed like a girl.

Hana's eyebrows came together in curiosity. What in the world happened? He wanted to see!!

"FOO FOO FOO FOO!!!" Blowing maniacally onto his palm, the man wiped his tears with the back of his other hand. Flopping onto the floor, he called, "Kororo...?"

"Kkuru," came a small voice. Hana had the feeling that Kororo was not a human...perhaps a spirit?

A gasp came to him. This man, living out in the middle of nowhere, must be a shaman!

While Hana could not see but hazy outlines, he listened intently and kept his lips sealed tightly.

"Ah, my Kororo," the man smiled. "My little Koropokkur." It seemed that her very presence calmed him.

"Kurukuu!"

After laughing softly, the husky but gentle voice sweetly asked her favor. "Kororo, I want you to cool my hand."

A light, tinny sound oversprinkled through the air, and the man's hand was brought back to its pale, fleshy Ainu color. The redness further disappated as Kororo continued to puff air onto his hand, and he looked over at a spot on the floor. There lay the washcloth he dropped at the instant that pain shot through his sensitive palm.

"It's all better now, Kororo. Thank you."

The little spirit arose to lightly peck his cheek, cold little lips making him smile. Then, the spirit settled next to him on the hardwood floor.

The owner of the house left her there, rising up with the washcloth in hand. His footsteps were nearing Hana where he rested.

"Hm." The washcloth, wet and warm, was lowered on top of Hana's tumescent eyes. Hana's soft little cheeks twitched along as he simpered. He knew that he would soon be able to open his eyes because of the soothing warm water.

The poor boy's face was bruised here, bumpy there, and yet he retained an inexplicably precious mien. His flaxen, bright yellow hair was glossed with sparse sunlight. Strangely, the light seemed to be drawn to him. There were very few windows, but what little light there was poking here and there in spots throughout the dingy room largely touched him.

Hana fidgeted a little at suddenly being left alone. Blinking hard, he couldn't stand it anymore and touched the small towel with his dirty child's hands. The dampened cloth was ripped off of his eyes and he sat up abruptly.

Looking around, his mouth drooped a little in curiosity. The place was a...complete shack! It was obviously well-constructed, but for the smart build it was still unrefined. The wood that made up its entire frame was completely unpolished, and there were even fungi and leaves that were not separated from the horizontally-stacked tree trunks that made up some parts of the...house(?). A spot about three meters away from the bed Hana lay in (which was attached to the wall and was made to collapse when not in use) was dug out as a pit, which was full of black dirt and woodchips. A kettle rested on a crude iron grid above the charred contents in the pit—the fireplace, which was really more of an indoor campfire than anything. There was an intricately carved countertop that extended from the opposite wall of the house, and a couple plush objects made of animal furs were some seats for guests. The whole environment screamed, "Come on in! Make yourselves comfortable, and don't mind the bugs!

"They're guests too."

Well, that was the humble abode. And it was all no more than a single room.

Hana's pupils tried to welcome in as much light as possible by dilating. His eyes eventually started to water from the strain, so he wiped them once more with the warm towel. Looking through the dimness afterwards for the strange shaman whose voice he heard, his eyes settled on the little spirit he had been conversing with earlier.

She was even smaller than Matamune—no more than fifteen centimeters! And oh, was she petite. She resembled a little doll that Hana had once seen in his mother's room (before she shoved him out and yelled at him). Her cheeks were dotted with pink blush, and she had humongous eyes that peeked out from under blunt, brown hair. She was clothed in a small little pink gown that was covered in confusing angular patterns. Her feet were big like a bunny's—proportionally ample, but still cute. And they had matching little pink slippers to complete her ensemble! Perhaps most peculiarly, she clutched a large leaf in her tiny, mittenlike hands.

Well, while doll-like, she definitely was never human. She almost undetectably, unnaturally cooed, and had a pure peace about her.

_Where's the guy who was talking to her?_ Hana wondered.

"Oi, awake, aren't you?" The man, shielded by a shadow, asked him.

"Huh?..." Hana looked even harder. A tighter squint did nothing, but no matter. The figure came out into a patch of sunlight leaking intensely through the roof.

He was tall and lithely built, clothed in all grass-stained clothing except for the brilliant black dress robe reaching to his feet. It had blue, square-patterned trim down its length and around the long sleeves' edges. His feet were scratched and bare, and like his home would suggest, he looked like he needed a bit of cleaning. He had profound black eyes that were bordered at the top by thick, manly eyebrows and shaggy blue bangs. The mass of hair that the bangs hung from was unruly, uneven, and chin-length. It had the color quality of a robin's eggs. The end of his chin, while brushed by his unkempt mane, had a small growth of its own facial hair that came in black. It started as sideburns, speckled the top of his lips, and gathered at the tip of his chin in a modest beard. His mouth was well-shaped and soft, and in sharp contrast with his rough demeanor, he smiled most handsomely.

Upon the sight of this grizzly, five-foot-eleven shaman, Hana was more than a little surprised at the hands he had been left in. But this boy was never easily intimidated.

"Um, where's Ryu, mister?" Hana asked spiritedly.

"Ah, he went outside. He's probably having a smoke, wondering how to deal with this whole situation," the man said commonly, as though he had known Hana for years. His attitude of familiarity estranged himself even further from the boy on his bed, and Hana therefore felt compelled to find out more about the man.

"What's your name?"

"Horokeu Usui."

"Horokeu...?"

"Don't call me that."

Hana scooted off of the bed and crossed his legs on top of each other. "Then what should I call you?"

"Horohoro. But you don't have to talk to me."

"But I want to! My dad talked to me about you, you know. And how when you first met him, you fought with a snowboard!"

_I got rid of that thing years ago._

"I know that you know my parents and you fought in the Shaman Tournament seven years ago!"

Horohoro looked down, suddenly deep in thought. "Why is any of that important? It's not like it did any good."

"It's awesome," Hana said with enthusiasm. Horohoro's sudden glumness was contagious, though. Hana's mouth dropped considerably and his eyes grew solemn. He was going to be taken seriously; he wasn't just some annoying kid.

"You know what? I really don't like annoying kids," Horohoro stated. The words fell like a lead brick.

Hana got up and clenched his fists. "I'm not annoying! And why won't you talk to me? Talk to me about something that matters! I know that Ryu must have talked to you about why we're here!"

A smirk crawled across Horohoro's face. "I know why you're here. And it's not going to work."

Hana, appalled, tilted his head. "Huh...? How do you know?"

"Because," Horohoro sighed. "You are only human. Even together, people have a hard time figuring out how to go about doing anything. Heh, and on top of that, you're just a kid!"

"I can so accomplish whatever I want! This is important!" Hana grit his teeth and took a couple quick steps forward. "It doesn't matter how small I am! And I think humans can accomplish a whole lot! Besides," —he rested his hand on his Futsu no Mitama— "I'll have other Warriors beside me. Or, um, at least beside my _dad_ AND me."

Horohoro shook his head. "You just really have no idea how difficult your task is, do you?"

"I've already released one of the Legendary Warriors."

The man's eyes narrowed a little, but only slightly. It seemed that he could not quite perfectly mask his emotions. Or perhaps Hana was just unbelievably perceptive. "Sou ka."

"Yeah, it's true." Hana loosened up a little; he walked closer to Horohoro and sat down. Perhaps he was actually connecting with one of the Legendary Warriors! "And you know what? It won't be so hard with you helping me."

Trying to bring at least one smile into the dusky room backfired. Horohoro turned away completely from the boy.

_He's one of the more innocent of people. _

_Full of promise and hope. _

_But that doesn't change anything._

There was nothing said. The eerie quiet made Hana feel very uncomfortable. He was becoming unsure in the silence, and as many children do when they are ignored, he contemplated some random bit to say as his hands felt around in his pockets. His right felt the crisp, rough edges of the Futsu no Mitama.

_Dad, I'm doing it. I'm helping you in a way you probably never even thought that I could._

_Just watch me._

"I'm not joining in, kid," As if on cue, the breeze in the drafty house fell dead at Horohoro's voice.

"..." Hana's eyes, swelling immensely down, were now well enough to grow incredibly wide. "WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" Hana impulsively got up and faced him, stepping on the black robe Horohoro was adorned with.

There was an unexpected crack from under Hana's foot.

Hana immediately looked down, puzzled, when Horohoro got up, whipped around and yanked the garb from under the small boy's bare feet. Hana hit the wooden floor hard.

"Aaaghh!"

"Kururuku!!" Horohoro's spirit came over to Hana, her eyes full of worry.

"Do you..." Horohoro fumbled through the long dress. "...have any idea what you have done...? You...little..."

Hana looked up from his position on the floor. It just wasn't his day.

Horohoro pulled something out from under his cloak. It was a small, white stick; simply (but beautifully) carved.

And it seemed that it was just recently snapped into two pieces.

"KONO YAROU GA—!!!!" Horohoro's teeth gnashed together and he hurled the stick toward Hana, and it spilt into even more pieces when it ricocheted off of the floor.

"Kuruuu—!" Kororo cried and tugged at Hana's overall strap, desperately trying to help him up, but she decided to flee out the door.

"YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW IMPORTANT THIS IS—IT IS—SO IM..." Horohoro's eyebrows came together in disbelief and he fell to the floor in a slumped position, his black cloak billowing, engulfing him. "So im...so import..."

He began to close his eyes repeatedly as they watered. Hana, in shock but not really hurt anymore than when he crashed into the truck, looked over and desperately tried to understand.

"BAAAN!" Horohoro hit his head on the ground, his ungroomed head of hair covering his features entirely.

_They can't do anything right..._

_We can't do anything right..._

"Kono hito..." Hana whispered to himself. _This man...is nuts!!_

"Hana-san!!!" Matamune called, whisking through the doorway with a scared expression on his face. "I heard it getting very loud!"

"Matamune! I didn't mean to do anything!"

"Quick, Hana-san, we're getting in the truck!"

"What?! But HEY—!"

Before he knew it, he was out the door with his mochirei. Ryu had just slammed the driver's side door and started up the truck.

"Bocchan!! Come on in!!"

"Ah, but, wait, what???" Hana was completely flustered as the truck sped off, Matamune perched on the roof of the vehicle and Hana safely in the passenger seat. Questions swam in his head.

"I am so, so sorry, Little Master!" Ryu apologized, wind whipping through the open window as they accelerated. Hana was looking over through the back window at Horohoro's shelter as it got smaller and smaller.

They sped up as they slowly cleared the seemingly endless fields of peculiar, wide leaves across the ground. Hana had not realized just how beautiful and expansive these leaves were when he was hanging on to the back of the truck for dear life a couple hours prior.

Trying to bring Hana to conversation, Ryu explained, "Hana...I thought that you could definitely get to talking to Horohoro and convince him to free himself up. So, I just had a smoke or two and got to fixing the ding that your head put in my truck!" Ryu chuckled. "My god, I had no idea that your head was so thick!"

"Ryu!! What the heck was _with_ Horohoro?" Hana asked him abruptly. There was so much that went on; so much that needed explaining.

"It will take a lot to explain," Ryu told him. "More than I can tell you. All I know is that after the a visit to his native Hokkaido, Horohoro became harder and harder to contact...It's definitely a puzzle how to get him thinking clearly again. But Hana?"

"Yeah?" Hana asked.

"He's a real good dude." Ryu looked to the road as he made a right turn.

"He..." Hana looked down, his lips pouted out in sadness. "He disappointed me a little bit. My dad described him way differently. He even told me about how much he liked to come over and play with me when I was a baby."

"Hana..." Ryu looked at him. "Don't worry. I figured that this would be a problem. You didn't do anything wrong."

"..." Hana couldn't bring himself to mention the broken stick.

"Where are we going now, Ossan?" He noticed that they were going further in the same direction rather than back home.

"We, my little friend, are going to a lady's house." Ryu smiled.

"WHAT—?!" Hana made a face. "NO WAY! What is your _problem_? Gotta visit every girl you think about?!"

"It's not what it seems, Hana-san," Matamune, book in hand, informed him as he popped into view. He was upside down, peering in from the roof.

"This woman will give us a lot that we need to know," Ryu added with a nod. "Horohoro will be a lot easier for you to understand after this, okay? And then, I'm sure that our task will be a lot easier to handle."

Hana sleepily yawned. "...Nn..." His head fell to rest on his seatbelt. Rides in Ryu's truck could be life-threatening, but when Hana was in the passenger seat, he was absolutely lulled. "I...guess...that sounds good."

He settled into slumber for the rest of the drive.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZTOP

AUTHOR NOTE TIME!!

Well, I am very glad that you are reading this. It just struck me how epic this is going to turn out...XD There is way too much to think about...

Well, one chapter at a time!

And by the way, I absolutely LOVE my reviewers. Thank you so much! Please, everyone, it doesn't matter what you have to say (though I would appreciate nice things...remember, good karma, people!!). Tell me what you think. It's so awesome to get inspiration from people who read my stuff (you crazyfolk...I didn't know anybody would actually like this...)!

Being that this part of the story is finally here and it is so long, I'm really motivated. I just hope that no one is ticked off at me for how Horo is here...

I am sorry :(

BUT NO WORRIES!! In two chapters, all will be told. Promise.

Besides, I love Horohoro as a character. He's just been through a lot in the last four years...

Four is the Japanese unlucky number, you know.

Until next time, which will not be long,

Goodbye.

Rambling terribly,

SS


	5. Trust Me Two Times

Yoh and Anna's footsteps echoed; a repetitive tap. They were thankfully alone (so far, anyway,) in the high, symmetrical hall.

"Come on, we really should hurry up!" Yoh called back to his wife, attempting to whisper. Unfortunately, his voice could carry in only one volume. A grin sprawled across his lips and he added, "You know that Ren doesn't like intruders."

Anna looked up as she plodded along. Although they had taken the subway, her swollen feet were achy and sore from all of the walking they had to endure from there. "Hf...hf...He realizes that we are here, anyway. It's not like the fact that we have to walk through four freaking chambers is going to make a difference when we finally do confront him."

Yoh stopped mid-step and blinked. "'Confront?' Why such a brutal word? I mean, Ren and I go way back...It'll be great to see him again, don't you think?"

Anna halted as well after catching up to him. "You seem to think that this is all some sort of reunion." She expected nothing less from Yoh.

"Um," Yoh made a face. "It kind of...is...?"

"No. We are talking about something equally as important as the Shaman Tournament here. You know that much."

"Well, yeah," he replied casually, scratching the back of his neck. "But you know what? If I don't freak out about it, it will all go just as smoothly anyways."

"Haha! 'Just as smoothly,'" Anna laughed. She abruptly let out a small gasp and covered her mouth with her hand, never feeling that she could comfortably let her emotions out.

"Yes."

He touched the hand that was poised over her face. As he brought it to his lips in a kiss, Anna's cheeks flushed and her eyes lightly closed.

Yoh laughed through his satisfied smile. It felt like he had earned the love of the greatest, strongest, and most beautiful woman in the world when _she_ beamed at _him_.

"WHAT THE HELL—?!! YOH!!!"

"HUH?!"

He turned away from Anna quickly, for she had turned deathly pale in an instant due to whatever it was ahead of them.

Not eight meters away was a gigantic, lumbering, fuzzy object. It was but an enigmatic silhouette; illuminated around its furry body by the dim light that it was blocking out.

And it was alive. And moving.

Towards them.

Sweat trickled down Yoh's forehead; he hesitated on what to do. He wasn't going to attack something that he could barely see...

Anna, however, wasn't making things any easier for him. She looked for blame to pressure her protector, and it brought him down.

(She...had a knack for that...)

"How on EARTH did you not realize that a giant Furby was coming up on us?! This isn't exactly a crowded hall!! What, a couple _stairways_?!"

"Hey, you didn't see it, either!"

"I was the one who warned you, baka!!!"

"_KUUROOOWWWRRR——!!!!!!"_ The mighty lump emitted something between a light _meow_ and a _roar_.

"Just don't tick it off anymore, Sweetheart!"

"Don't you 'Sweetheart' me!!!"

"AMIDAMARU!!!"

Yoh flung open his white cloak and wrapped his fingers around the memorial tablet slung through one of his belt loops. The stone slab was what housed his loyal mochirei.

But a moment later, a whorl of silver wind blew through, and there stood a six-hundred-year-old samurai ghost in front of his master.

"Yoh-dono, I know that I was told to keep sealed away, but I knew that you should have called upon me before entering Tao Ren's domain," said the samurai.

Yoh smiled. "Thank you, Amidamaru. You know that you floating around me would have been a dead giveaway of my identity for any shaman. You really needed to keep undercover as much as possible during this time."

Amidamaru bowed low. "I only serve you."

"Ah, well..." Yoh's arms crossed behind his head.

Amidamaru and Yoh laughed alongside each other, reveling in each others' company after Amidamaru's long silence.

Anna, however, was losing patience.

She fumbled underneath her black cloak for a moment with one hand, and when it showed itself again, a long tangle of 1080 blue beads were intertwined between her fingers.

"GAAAH!!"

"UFF!!"

"You know what? I don't care if you've kept your mouth shut since we left Funbari Hill. This is a RIDICULOUS TIME FOR IDLE CHAT WHEN WE NEED TO GET THROUGH THIS PASSAGE!!!"

"Annnnnnaaaa..." Yoh whined through a choke hold from Anna's left arm. "Suman..."

"Lady Anna, please let me carry out my duty," pleaded Amidamaru. He was practically strangled by the prayer beads that were just a _little_ too-snugly tied around him.

Anna's eyes narrowed, and then she released her husband's neck (much to his relief).

"-Geho-geho-geho-" Yoh coughed. "Amidamaru, into Harusame!"

Anna unbound the spirit, and he entered the sword with a flash of fiery orange light.

"OVERSOUL!!!!"

With the glowing sword's hilt grasped in Yoh's sure, steady right hand, the hairy guest was startled. It started to softly bumble away.

"Ah! It's leaving!" Yoh called out, stating the obvious.

"Yoh! It's," Anna peered harder through the chamber. Yoh's illuminating blade had helped her to see their fellow occupant much more clearly. Her eyes widened.

"It's a panda..."

Yoh took a step back and disengaged his Oversoul. "What?"

"**IT IS."**

At the boom of a loud, unfamiliar voice, the entire perimeter became lit.

"Ah!" Yoh gasped, and Anna's head turned this way and that to take in their surroundings. Ornate vases, red tapestries, and a reflective marble floor characterized the room in a sharp, chic, almost supernatural way. Intricately-patterned metal railings wound up the length of shining stairways. Their steps met near the ceiling on a strong, intimidating balcony. At the center of this towering architecture was a tall, auburn threshold. The magnificent portal was crested with glossy, golden dragon figures at the top, and each door was embossed with an image of the Tao.

The splendour of the environment, the laborious mission, the sudden brightness, and the..._Giant_ _Panda_...

It was all making Anna very light-headed.

Yoh and Amidamaru looked on for a few seconds at the whimpering panda, still scuttling toward the shadows just below the stairs. Then, Yoh's chin rose up, and he was faced with the stare of a daunting man.

Tao Ren stood in a staid manner, looking over the balcony railing. His height was great, topping off at nearly six feet. He carried himself in such a way, though, that it seemed that he was even taller. With such a pretentious stature, it was amusing that he was complemented with an imperially slim build. The aura of a lord from the top of his pointy, jet-black hair down to his small feet, he was donned with the most august of Chinese dress. Shining purple silk immersed in a cape of black, a soft golden sash, and black, thinly soled slippers comprised his attire.

He had a pale complexion, detailed with intense features. His lips were as tedious and thin as if a needle had painted them on with India ink. The nose, placid in the middle of his face, was small, delicate, and sharp, and below it were wisps of hair that made up a distinguished mustache. Ren's beard was equally as slight, ending in a tip the size of a sharpened pencil point below his chin. What was perhaps his most wickedly profound facial feature, though, was met with Yoh's welcome attention.

His eyes. A severe, strong, and vivid yellow hue burst forth from his slanted irises. They were not only the eyes of a tiger, but the eyes...of a Tao.

"Asakura Yoh." The man smirked. "Asakura Anna. To find you like this, in my own home..."

"We are surprised ourselves," Yoh replied in sincerity.

"..." Ren looked down further. "Yes." His head twisted in the direction of the panda, which was curled up in lazy defense beneath the stairway. The man's mouth downturned ever-so-slightly.

"You know why we came here, don't you?" Yoh inquired him. He already knew the true answer.

Ren looked on at Yoh with an I-think-you-are-an-imbecile air, and yet his voice maintained a level of respect when he spoke. "Not really."

"Sou ka?" Yoh asked in return. Amidamaru watched intently, and Anna wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. She was quietly perspiring, surrounded with the stuffiness of a mansion.

Ren knew that eventually Yoh would speak, but he had intentions of his own. "Yoh, Anna, I would like you to follow me. Please don't be made to feel uncomfortable here."

Yoh and Amidamaru looked at one another, each curiously wondering what they should do. Everything was awkward and forced, but the ice needed to be broken somehow. Neither they nor Anna had seen Ren for five years. Yoh turned to Anna, who was a ways behind him and his guardian spirit.

Anna, appearing twice as uncomfortable as he, looked up directly at Ren. She quietly but assuredly replied to his request with, "All right, we will follow you. Are we going to the highest chamber?"

Ren nodded and then turned around abruptly, facing the passageway out of the Xuan-Ming level. The doors opened up to him, and he seemed to glide through.

Anna heaved a great sigh and softly touched the Shaman King's back. "Let's go," she urged.

Yoh faced her and smiled. When Anna looked down to the ground and bit her lip, Yoh gestured for Amidamaru to trail behind them. He humbly obeyed.

When Anna took the first move forward, Yoh realized that Anna's eyes squinted shut when she stepped. It was as though she was wincing in pain. Had Yoh been oblivious to her needs all this time?

"Anna?" he asked her, voice hinting concern.

"What."

"Are you doing all right?" As they walked up the stairs, warily keeping one eye on the panda that lay underneath their path, Yoh turned Anna's cheek toward him. "Anna, you're turning bright red. And I think that you have a temperature."

"I'm fine. We'll be up to the top soon. The 'Dan-Yuan.'"

"...Nn. Anna, I'm worried."

"What the heck, Yoh? You shouldn't be worried about me." Anna jerked away from him. "I mean it, we need to focus on our duty. You can't get distracted so easily—I didn't **train** you that way."

Yoh, though age twenty-two, was never too mature or experienced to be scared of Anna's wrath. Even with the threat, though, he shared more with her when they reached the top of the steps.

"If you won't let me worry about you," he told her in a huff, "at least let me worry about our baby."

The Ice Queen's death glare was softened this time. "...I need to sit down as soon as possible, Yoh."

"See? You need to—"

"WE need to keep moving." With this, she briskly got ahead of him, her hands swinging at her sides fully clenched. Yoh caught the an annoyed look wrenched across her face as she whipped past him.

Amidamaru blinked a few times. "Yoh-dono...Lady Anna really never changes, does she?"

"Aaahh..." Yoh cried. "Amidamaru, let's hurry. I caught that hint about the training."

Amidamaru nearly laughed, but he kept it to himself. He was worried about Anna, too.

_FUNBARI HILL_

"_Ah, Yoh-sama, he is so cute..." The young woman blushed, her cheeks as pink as her hair. Her eyes went aglow at the mere sight of Hana. His shoulder-length blond hair absolutely toyed with the wind, whipping around in his face and making him giggle delightfully. But he just sat there plainly, gazing wide-eyed at the nature around him. Tamamura Tamao was the onlooker, trying to feel content just staring through the window that separated her from the outdoors._

The yard near twilight looks like the brightest sunrise with such an angel running around out there_, Tamao thought to herself. She adored anything about Yoh, but in all honesty, it was his son that she loved most. He was a pure soul, full of more spirit and jubilation than she'd ever seen in a boy._

_Yoh was a little behind Tamao, beaming at her awe over Hana. At twenty years old, he was incredibly self-complacent. He felt that he had the carefree life he'd always dreamed of; the world in the palm of his hand (which, ultimately, he did); and, best of all,_

_The world's most wonderful family._

_Yoh looked on at his wife, clad in a thin white top and tan capris, lying under the tree and sewing as their five-year-old son played with a fallen leaf. It was a crisp, cool autumn day, and the sunset dazzled everything with a reddish-orange glow. It was right then that he remembered to ask Tamao what Anna told him to._

"_Tamao?"_

"_Yes, Yoh-sama."_

"_How would you feel if you could be Hana's mom?"_

_A jolt of electricity shot through Tamao's system. "Y-Y-Yoh-samaaa????" What in the world...was he talking about?!_

_She had always secretly wished that she was the one with Yoh. Could it be that he knew this, and was just teasing her along?_

"_Hehe!" Yoh laughed. "Why such a shocked face? I'm serious...in a sense. I mean, I have something to ask of you. And I really want you to consider it."_

_Tamao looked away from the glass, now painfully glistening from the setting sun's rays, and timidly darted her eyes away from Yoh. She knew it was rude not to face his direct request, but she couldn't bring herself to take him seriously with such a random comment. It had touched her too deeply, and she was completely embarrassed._

"_Tamao...?" Yoh inquired nervously. "Are you okay? I mean, you don't have to answer, but I haven't even really asked you yet..."_

_Tamao's blush deepened, and her head shook nervously from side to side. She could now barely see Yoh's face, for the sun had gone down and no lights had been turned on in the meantime. But that was for the better; she couldn't control her racing heart. _Say something! Say anything! Anything good, I mean...

"_I didn't want to ignore you. I'll try my best to do anything to help you, Yoh-sama."_

"_Anything?"_

"_Ah, I..."_

"_Tamao, please look up at me. This is important."_

_Yoh's index finger curled under her chin and lifted the girl's head up. She immediately grew doe-eyed and gulped. "Okay," she told him calmly. "Just ask me."_

_Yoh's teeth shone white in the dark as he grinned at her. "Well, really, Anna—"_

"_AHEM."_

_In the doorway Anna stood, clutching her son and propping his sleeping body up in her arms. She glared at Tamao, who was nearly eighteen and quite pretty, and then at her husband. Their faces were but ten centimeters apart, and Yoh's hand was supporting Tamao's gaze from underneath the tip of her chin. Anna asked icily, "_What_ about me, exactly?"_

"_Aah, um," Yoh stammered. "I was...asking Tamao about...you know."_

_Anna raised her head up. "One second while I tuck Hana in bed. Running around so much makes him go out like a light, you know." She cleared her throat pronouncedly. "I will be **right back**." _

_Quick as a flash, Yoh's hand fell to his side and stayed there. He decided to let Anna do the talking when she came back so that she would not inflict on him a world of pain. Tamao fell dead silent, awaiting their favor to ask of her. _

_When Hana's door closed so that his night light shone through only a creak, Anna approached the two. She turned to Tamao, her light blue eyes highly visible even in the dark._

"_We're on a mission from the Great Spirit."_

_-cricket chirps-_

"_What, Anna-sama?" Tamao's face contorted in confusion. This had to be some joke now._

"_I mean it," Anna snapped. "Yoh and I need to gather together the seven Legendary Warriors. We already have two ready to work toward our goal, but the other five will take considerably longer to assemble peacefully. If we wait any longer...it surely won't go as smoothly as it could right now." _

"_Nani...?" Tamao had trouble deciphering whatever Anna was asking of her. She fidgeted and fiddled with her fingers, asking, "What exactly do you mean? What 'Warriors'? And, which two have you gotten prepared?"_

"_We can't tell you!" Anna told her sharply. "Yoh is the Shaman King. It is for him to use the Great Spirit's unbelievable power, and it is also for the Great Spirit to use Yoh to carry out Its will. It is the perfect integration, and you certainly shouldn't question it."_

"_Hai, Anna-sama!" Tamao apologized. She bowed. "Wakarimasu." _I understand

"_Tamao," Yoh interrupted Anna carefully. "What we would need is someone to make sure that Hana has a normal childhood while we're away."_

"_And Ryu could DEFINITELY not do that on his own," Anna puffed in disfavor. Yoh laughed quietly, nervously; he then continued. _

"_He still needs to go to school. He needs someone to look after him. And bake him cookies."_

_Anna elbowed Yoh at his ridiculous last comment on parenting. "Could you do this for Hana?" she asked, **almost** sweetly._

_Tamao couldn't believe what was going to happen. Yoh, the forever unattainable love of her life, was leaving for what sounded like some while, at least. She would be in charge of his own son—the playful, feisty, completely irresistibly adorable Hana. And not only was the easygoing Yoh wanting for this to happen, but...wait, didn't she hear multiple times that it was _Anna's_ idea to ask Tamao?_

_She didn't know what to say. But something subconsciously pried a crystal clear "Yes" from her little lips._

_Yoh chuckled and pat Tamao on the shoulder. "I know he will be very happy to find out about this. He'll get on fine without us; he's got determination to pull through with whatever comes his way."_

_Anna, for the first time, lowered her eyes and bowed low to Tamao. The rosy-haired girl blinked repeatedly for a moment. Soon after, she put her fingers to her lips in surprise and utter appreciation of Anna's immense trust in her._

"_I guess...I shall be going to bed," Tamao told the couple. "When will you tell me when I should prepare to give my all into the keeping of this household?"_

_She had become so floored in the honor that Anna and Yoh bestowed upon her, that she hadn't realized they were already off to their bedroom. _

_Tamao's heart was light as a feather after the heavy conversation that night._

"Aah..." Anna panted with a cringe as she, Yoh, and Amidamaru found their way through yet another door. The last door. Her head was absolutely pounding.

This portal, like most others they'd past, opened mysteriously for them, as if it was magical. But that was hardly the case.

Going by this door, Yoh wrapped his cloak comfortingly around his wife's shaky shoulders. He bowed slightly to the panda that held open the entrance.

_What the hell is __**with**__ all of these pandas...?_ he thought. He realized that Ren had done numerous things to the Tao Palace, but the most bizarre addition by far was the quiet, almost eerily obedient pandas that guarded every hall.

When they were halfway down the hall, the light quality began to diminish with each step forth. Yoh wanted to at least make sure that he could see Anna, and he became wary about what lurking forces could steal away Amidamaru. Ren was a powerful and puzzling shaman after all, capable of anything. He summoned his mochirei back into his memorial tablet, and quietly kissed Anna.

"It'll be okay; I think the door is right here in front of us."

He felt Anna's hair brush his face as she nodded. To feel her body tremble in his arms made even Yoh nervous, for it was very rarely that Anna looked even remotely weak.

She, on the other hand, was as fired up as ever to get on with the "interview" that awaited them. Though her condition was poor, she would stand by Yoh's side throughout the entire process. Besides, there was no one who made the Shaman Queen feel more confident than her Shaman King.

Surprisingly to Yoh, Anna sure-handedly pushed on the door to open before he did. When it wasn't pulled fully open by another panda like they were expecting, Yoh helped her to force the way through.

Bursting beyond the heavy doors, Yoh was expecting to find the unlit, dismally colored dungeon that he had found himself in years ago. However, he found a new facet to the Dan Yuan chamber this time. It was lit in a red haze that came from the blazing fireplace. The tan carpeting's elegant design illuminated and flickered in the light.

Ren sat in a high-backed, black leather chair. Bason, looking rather glum, towered behind him.

"You have finally reached it," Ren said amusedly. He seemed in decent spirits toward Yoh, who he often resented. "Please, have a seat." He austerely motioned toward the two plush, red armchairs facing him.

"Well," Yoh started to explain as he and Anna settled into the chairs, "I was going to ask if after all this high-up improvement, you'd installed an elevator or something."

"Oh?" His eyes grew intrigued for a split second.

"It's just that Anna isn't doing so well right now."

The woman beside him violently ripped off the white cloak that he was sharing with her. "I told you that I'm fine, you stupid obaka!!!" She gnashed her teeth together.

This was just what she did not want: Yoh to bring to Ren's attention that she was vulnerable.

The Tao's eyes glistened with the luster of venom. "I am glad that the..._Shaman Queen_... is in optimal condition." A smile began to coyly spread.

Yoh braced himself, hand over the fully concealed Harusame.

Anna was trying to take in exactly what he was going to do. But she never even had a _chance_ to defend herself.

In a flash, Ren was poised behind her with complete control of a spectacular shining Oversoul. The halberd that he controlled, his fearsome kwan dao, channeled all of Bason's power and might through its solid gold handle. This weapon was pressed steadily into the flesh of Anna's throat, and as Ren's temper flared, the blade came closer and closer to cutting.

Anna panted and bit down on her lip hard. As the blood trickled down her chin, sweat formed on her forehead.

"Go ahead, Anna," Ren sneered. "I would love to hear you scream out loud."

Seeming that she would break down and cry with all that was bearing down on her, she remained headstrong.

"_Yoh..."_ she pleaded hoarsely.

Yoh's head hung low as he sat in his armchair. One would never have accurately guessed how very in tune he was with what was going on; he, with his silky, dark brown hair curtaining his concealed face.

Ren's cool expression exchanged itself for one of maniacal intolerance. He wanted Anna's integrity to crumple _now_.

"Get that filthy piece of garbage away from her," came the voice from under a long mane.

Ren's head turned sharply toward Yoh; Anna's didn't dare move an inch. Inside, her heart instantly fluttered...

Before filling with even more fear.


	6. Sister Aqua Hair

The seat, which had been rocking back and forth as the tires rumbled through potholes, reached a level medium.

The ride had approached Toukyou, the city of the smoothest pavement in the world.

What a nice, easy trip it had become! But Hana had been sleeping all the rickety way—even through the uneven countryside.

It was when the truck stopped coasting along that Hana's eyelids shot up. The hum of the truck, the approaching twilight, and his spirit and uncle Ryu to protect him...

It had almost felt as comfortable as his bed at home.

Ryu unbuckled, simultaneously pulling the keys from the ignition. "Bocchan?"

"Yeah, Ryu," Hana replied through a small yawn. He smiled. "I'm awake."

Matamune bookmarked his current page, and lowered himself with tiny cat paws to the sidewalk nearby. What friction he lacked between his claws and the shiny surface of the vehicle shell, he made up in the spiritual ability to practically float.

_Ah, to be a ghost is rewarding! I am even spared from falling._

He looked up at Hana, who had just hopped out of the truck.

_But rather than just being any ghost,_

_I am the mochirei of this gifted young boy._

_Thank you, Anna-san._

Ryu circled around the front of the truck to where Hana and Matamune awaited him on the walk. He donned his sunglasses, doing his best to look down from the intensely setting sun. Both of his companions, short in height, looked up at his confident smirk and smiled back.

"Well, here we are. Let's go."

His right foot clacked forward in a sharp white shoe, making the first move toward the door of an apartment building.

The structure was a solid dark grey color, facing out perpendicular to the parked truck. To the left and to the right, Hana looked open-mouthed down the urbanized block. _Millions of buildings look too much like this one_, he thought. Bustling people made their way across the sidewalk bordering the apartment's front, most dressed nicely, few colorful, and a very small amount not checking their watches constantly.

It was dusk; just about time for the hard-working Toukyouites to return home.

"Hana-san," Matamune hinted, tapping his master's shoulder with his long pipe. Hana looked up to Ryu, at the top of the wide steps to the door of the apartment complex.

Ryu looked to the buzzers at the right of the door frame, and pressed one that was for a room on the second level.

As Hana and Matamune climbed the stairs, Hana recognized the name by the button that Ryu had just pushed: "P. Usui."

_P. Usui...?_ Hana's hands reached up and scratched his head through messy blond hair. _That sounds familiar to me...though I've only been to this part of downtown Toukyou a couple times._

"Little Master?" Ryu turned around and asked. He had already opened the door and stepped inside, and was now half-turned toward the Asakura boy.

Hana was just standing there, and then looked up. "Huh?"

"Come on in; we can't take up all this nice lady's time."

"Hai, Ossan."

Matamune shifted his gaze toward Hana, and he smiled pleasantly with the air of a sage. "You should go on forth; don't think too much in this situation. You have us to guide you, so there is no reason to feel intimidated."

"Matamune?" Hana began to ask him, now walking forward. "Maybe if I hadn't fallen asleep, it would be fresh in my mind...but I totally remember hearing 'P. Usui' before—"

"_Usui _is Horohoro's last name," Matamune reminded him.

"Ah!" The boy blinked. It was true. "Sou da ne." _That's right._

"We're not going to keep it from you," Matamune told him with a click of his tongue. "The person you're going to meet is Horohoro's younger sister, Pirika Usui."

Hana nodded; then a moment later, he growled. "But you won't tell me what's so important about her? What's _she_ going to tell us that _you_ can't?"

Matamune knew that this was uniquely Hana; he had an oddly analytical nature. He was always subconsciously interrogating everything around him, and that brought wonder to him as well as frustration.

It was because he felt that he was always being kept in the dark, and for the most part...it was true.

With that in mind, the wise cat calmly stated, "She'll tell us exactly that. What _we_ can't, what no one _else_ could, about Horohoro."

Hana looked Matamune as skeptically as if he were a three-dollar bill. The threesome stepped into an elevator. "You always think that you're so philosophical."

With a chuckle, the spirit shrugged. "I just keep things simple, Hana-san. Perhaps you should try that sometime."

The boy rolled his big, brown irises up towards the ceiling. When the elevator door's bell brought him back to his surroundings, his eyes focused on the narrow door before them. It had to be Pirika's.

On the floor in front of the entryway was a beautiful rug. It was roughly woven in sky blue, with a curious white symbol on it—it looked very much like an elaborate horseshoe, pointed where it should be round. The pointiest part of the strange white image was pierced with the picture of a red arrow.

This rug reminded him of Horohoro's angularly-patterned black cloak instantly. But what brought his mind back even more strongly to Horohoro was the wooden piece hanging from the back of the door.

This decoration was white, pear-shaped and long. It had a pattern carved into it with images of clovers, grass, sunlight, and swirling winds. Everything that the design portrayed seemed to speak of the spirits that filled everything in nature with wonder.

Ooh.

Hana couldn't help but gulp, even though the piece was uplifting. It was reminiscent of the stick that had set Horohoro off so much when it broke.

Ryu knocked crisply on the sturdy door, and waited anxiously for it to be opened up.

A few seconds later, the knob clicked to the left, and an attractive lady stood in their presence.

She was of medium height, pretty skinny, and had feet of long, icy blue hair pulled back from her face in a headband. She wore a many-layered beaded necklace, and also had many earrings on each ear. Astute black eyeglasses sat on pale cheeks and a long nose, windowing huge, aquamarine eyes placed perfectly on her peach-shaped face.

Her dress was long and eccentric; it flowed with blue, green and purple designs that coolly spiraled around the skirt. Though it was not in any way revealing, of note were the royal blue tattoos that it failed to cover up. The spare, flowery designs dazzled along her arms and came together at the palms and backs of her hands. Hana stuck his tongue out unwittingly at the inked skin of such a nice-looking, fair-skinned lady.

Half-smiling, she asked them with a tilt of the head, "Won't you come in?"

Upon closer observation from Hana's keen eyes, her lips were tattooed as well.

_Eew, gross..._he thought.

Despite what Hana's first impressions were, he stepped in with a bow at the invitation. Pirika giggled at the cuteness of his respect, and smiled at Ryu. "It's been a really long time."

"Ah yes, too long!" Ryu grinned in a cheesy manner. He thrust out his arms, expecting an embrace.

Matamune shook his head and took a deep puff from his pipe.

Pirika's eyes expressively loured, and she trailed off in straw sandals after Hana.

Ryu, somewhat heartbroken at the lackluster reunion, gloomily walked through the doorway and into the apartment. Matamune followed, thinking about peeling his book open but ultimately deciding he'd better listen.

When Hana walked into the parlor, he spun slowly to take in the room. It was free of too much décor, but numerous paintings dressed the walls with peaceful nature scenes. There was such a breezy, light atmosphere in the apartment compared to the flurry and business of the Toukyou streets outside.

"You can sit down here, you know," Pirika suggested to Hana. He broke his wandering mind away from the walls and looked to sit on a double-layered mat on the floor—there was no furniture that rose above-ground, except for a clean kitchen countertop.

"Thank you," Hana offered at her hospitality.

"Aww, he really is _so cute_!" Pirika cooed as though Hana wasn't there. "Just like when I first saw him as a widdle baby..."

Ryu scratched behind his head and laughed as Hana puffed his cheeks out. After Pirika turned and grinned at the pompadoured man, she looked down to the spirit beside him. She wore a musing look. Hana's pouting mouth fell open at her apparent acknowledgment of a ghost, but then his fist came down in the other hand. Her brother was indeed a shaman; it was no wonder she had the ability to see apparitions, too.

Matamune smiled up at Pirika and bowed low.

"Forgive me for lack of introduction. I am not used to such matters as a humble cat that is only visible to a select few."

Pirika tapped her index finger to her lips and listened on.

"I am Matamune of the Cats. I am the mochirei of Hana, and have served the Asakura to the best of my ability for a thousand years.

My favorite thing is...Matatabi."

At this, Pirika held her stomach, leaned over, and burst into ebullient laughter.

The guests looked on tight-lipped, and Matamune's eyes grew wide and looked at his open paws. Had he said something...wrong?

Pirika, who had the appearance of an unconventional young woman, wiped the tears from her eyes and choked a little on a laugh before regaining her composure.

"Eheh...hahaha..." she gasped, looking around at the peculiar faces. "Um, Sorry. No, seriously, I just...I didn't expect a cat to give the same kind of cut-and-dry introduction that my brother might have given. I mean, he even said that his favorite thing...was **mountain grass**!" With a final _pfft_, she pushed her glasses up. "Ah...I'm sorry..."

"No, you shouldn't be," Ryu comforted her. "But you know as well as I that Horohoro is struggling right now. He's not his old self."

Pirika's mouth drooped slightly. Her gaze grew serious. "He definitely isn't the same. He probably...wouldn't even be the least bit hospitable to guests, much less introduce himself to them."

Ryu gulped. "We just came from a visit with him."

"What?"

Hana played with a corner of his mat, waiting for Ryu to turn Pirika into the train of conversation that would lead to Horohoro's past in Hokkaido. Matamune nodded to Pirika with his eyes closed, confirming what Ryu said.

"D-Do you know how much I've wanted to see him?! He's...he's been secluding himself for almost four years now!! Who knows how he would react to anyone near him?!!" Pirika flailed her arms about, her once pale cheeks now turning pink and bothered. "You know what?! I bet he hasn't even been training himself!! He's a lazy woodland hermit by now!! That's it!!! That's..." She slumped down to her knees, the flowing skirt poofing out as it touched the ground.

Ryu reached out to comfort her, but Matamune snapped his fingers and shook his head. To save her from Ryu's over-eagerness, he rubbed against her leg and purred as if to say, "It's okay; talk it out. I'm here."

Pirika, clenching her teeth together to gain control, pat Matamune on the head softly. "I...really appreciate you guys coming by. I just don't have the courage anymore...I can't even think about trying to go, and visit—"

"I understand," Ryu said timidly.

"..." Pirika's eyes narrowed. "Wait, how did he act when you went there?"

Hana hung his head and dared to keep his eyes fixed on her. He had planned to spill the beans, but was not so much willing to now.

"He became," Matamune licked his paw and began, "quite troubled toward the end of our short stay. And it was very evident that something had shocked him tremendously."

Hana was feeling lower and lower with every second. Matamune then asked articulately,

"Hana-san, explain for us?"

Pirika looked over at him. He swallowed and sighed. He really didn't want to hurt her anymore by telling her how he upset her brother.

Boldly, Hana took the plunge. "Usui-san, I...think I did something really bad. I broke something."

"'Broke something'?"

"...Yeah. It was Horohoro's."

Pirika's eyes did not widen, but stayed steady on the boy. Hana wasn't sure if he should have felt tenser or more relaxed. He just decided to continue.

"I...I broke a white stick."

Matamune, who had given into reading, dropped his book and coughed over a smoke of his pipe. He did not expect to hear Hana confess to breaking "a white stick."

Ryu, likewise, scratched his head in confusion. _What...the hell..._

Pirika's expression transformed...in the most unexpected way. Her lips perked her cheeks up, and fully exposed her ornate tattoo. She smiled brightly, and begged, "Go on."

"Hey! It's true!" Hana declared, eyebrows meeting together. He hoped that what he imparted was connecting with her. "I mean, it was pretty and all...but I didn't think it was such a big deal! I should have been more sorry, I guess, but...he didn't even give me a chance..."

"No, no, I understand what you're saying! Really!" The woman waved her hand. "Keep going! It was like, yay long, right?" She positioned her palms in the air about ten centimeters away from each other. "Leaves and such carved into it?"

Hana began to smile, and expressed himself more loudly when he spoke. "Yeah!! Oh, wow, you know just what I'm talking about!" He stood up. "It was in his fancy kimono!"

Pirika maintained a pleasant air, looking at Hana with understanding. "...I see." She fingered her _tamasay_ necklace, in thought. "To think of what it still means to him...After all these years have passed..."

Hana's spirits were just pulled _further_ down. He tried to pour out his feelings, explaining timidly, "I...really had no idea how important it was to him, and I broke it." Feeling on the spot, feeling like he could cry, he apologized.

"Gomen nasai."

"'Gomen nasai'?" She blinked bemusedly. Even giggled a little. "'Gomen'...'nasai'...?? Oh, Hana!"

She flew across the room and hugged him, all while on her knees. "Hana-kuuuuun—that's just so cute! Aww, don't apologize!!"

Hana blinked repeatedly with surprise. More at ease, he then hugged back, teeth showing through a grin.

"You know what?" Pirika exclaimed. Everyone in the apartment was staring blankly at her now, wondering what she'd say next. "This is great news! Oh, I need to tell you all about it! I can see you're all a little...in the dark, haha."

_Noooo, really?_

_At least Ryu didn't even have to bring about the subject of Horohoro,_ Hana thought. _She's the type of woman who'll control a conversation all by herself if she wants._

_Kinda like Kaachan. _

"You other two; sit! I'll explain everything."

After Ryu and Matamune settled on the carpet by Pirika and Hana, Pirika cleared her throat. She began to tell them about what changed Horohoro's entire lifestyle...

"_Pirika! Can you believe it?"_

"_Believe what, Oniichan?"_

_The young warrior's nostrils flared as he breathed in the rich air of Hokkaido's countryside. "It's home here. No matter how much jeopardy our lifestyle and culture and all of that is in, you know what? We are most comfortable when we are with our Utari." _Our comrades.

"_W-we..." Pirika stammered. "We aren't...really home yet, Brother."_

"_Ah, well...maybe, sorta." Horohoro widened his eyes with each repetitive blink. They were beginning to get dried out from staring out the window of the car, wind blasting in through his unclosed eyelids. Pulling his head back to the interior of the automobile, he beckoned Kororo in as well. Rubbing his face in his hands, he sighed. "But just the anticipation! How long has it been since we traveled back into Eastern Hokkaido together, ne?"_

_Pirika mildly grinned. "A real long time."_

_They sat in silence, awaiting their generous "chauffeur" to drop them off when they gave the word. Hitch-hiking had become the most understandable method of travel for Horohoro—ever since he came back to Japan from America._

"_You know, Brother, it's really beautiful outside."_

"_Mm...I know, I've realized that."_

"_But isn't it weird?"_

"_Nani o?" He wondered what as he turned to face her._

"_The trees..."_

"_What trees?"_

"_Exactly!!" Her eyes grew intense, deep. "There is so much forest that is missing!"_

"_Demo, oi!" Pirika's older brother looked at her more aggressively, getting closer to her face. "Are you sure that you're telling this guy to go the right way?"_

_Her mouth fell open, and then closed tightly so that she could puff her cheeks out like half-inflated balloons. "Excuse me???" she asked, her speech muffled with anger._

"_Ah, but you should remember better than me! You came back here for much of the time I was in the Shaman Fight, right?" Horohoro bit his lip. "Girls. They can't remember for crap."_

_-ZUPPAN!!!-_

_Horohoro's right cheek was slap-red. He touched it gently and looked once more at his sister, flabbergasted._

"_Horohoro!" she cried, using his nickname. "You...I can't believe that you would just talk about me like that! I mean, I Love You, Horo!"_

_Horohoro uttered a small sound, hesitant of what to say for a moment. He then smiled, his mouth cocked to one side, and reassured her. "Pirika, I Love You, too. You're my little sister. Don't cry." He lifted his hand to softly to her cheek, wiping away the few salty tears. _

_His poor sister. She was sweet, albeit a little scary sometimes, but he really wasn't mad at her at all. They had had a long, beautiful trip home together, first traveling by plane to the northernmost main island of Japan, then hiking it most of the way in from the plane's touchdown. This was actually the most relaxed he had been in a long time with her...resting on her shoulder when he got tired in the car, her resting on his...It was all very peaceful, and he appreciated Pirika more and more with each second. _

_He was mad because for his first time coming back home after almost two years,_

_He was greeted with barren fields of stumps and abandoned, orange equipment._

_And he would rather it not be brought to his attention._

"_We _are_ on the right path, you know," Pirika asserted._

"_I...know that," Horo nodded. "Let's just wait quietly for now. I think we are almost there."_

"_We ARE almost there," Pirika harrumphed. "And you were the one making all the fuss, Brother of mine."_

_Horohoro winced. His sister had a hold on him that was never loose. _

_His stare returned out the window, his tiny spirit looking out at the plains and snuggling against her master's cheek._

"_Oh! Mister!" Pirika shouted more loudly than necessary to the companions' tight-lipped driver. "This is it! We'll walk from here."_

"_What are you talking about?!" Horohoro sputtered. He whipped his head around once more at their surroundings. It was not as thickly vegetated as he remembered it, and the grass was unhealthy and patched up in certain spots. "This isn't where our village is! Sorry, but we have to drive a little further—"_

"_I didn't SAY that this was where we live, you psycho!" Pirika snapped. "We're walking from here! Please let us off."_

_The man solemnly nodded, and then clicked all of the car doors unlocked. Horohoro immediately jumped out, and slammed his door in Kororo's face._

"_K-kurukurrr..." the tiny Koropokkur cried. She was intuitive, and couldn't stand to feel so much anger from her own shaman._

_Pirika sighed and gazed at Kororo sadly. "Come on, Koro." She held her hands open. Burdock leaf trailing behind, Kororo floated over and nestled herself in Pirika's warm palms. The girl bid the driver farewell, and then ran off after her brother. He had retrieved his snowboard from the trunk in a hurry, and was already a ways down the dusty road._

"_Brother," she called to him, a foot behind. "You shouldn't take this all so hard. I know you're mad that things have changed, but don't let anything like that get to you."_

"_Pirika," he responded. "You don't know what I'm feeling right now."_

"_I know I don't, but at least I'm not pretending to. You seem to think that I can't talk to you because all I'm trying to do is bring you down with what I have to say. And it's just not true!"_

"_Kuruu!"_

"_Why is Kororo with you?"_

"_Because! She was scared of you, and sad that you would forget about her on a whim. Your feelings are not the most important ones all the time, you know."_

"_How dare you say that I forgot about her?!" He halted and turned around, snowboard jolting against his back at the sudden movement. "Kororo, come on. Come here."_

_She stayed silent, and flew to the top of Pirika's head. Perching herself there, she moved not and gazed at Horohoro with uncertainty. It was clear that she knew that being around him was not the best thing right now._

"_You know, Pirika," Horohoro sighed. There was a bit of sadness in his voice. "Maybe it's not as big a shock for you to come back here and see that our Kamuy have been forsaken. But for me, it's something that nothing could have prepared me for. You...you're just too young to understand."_

_Pirika's lips remained shut. Blood boiling in the silence, she spoke up a minute later: "You don't have to feel like you're facing this alone, Brother. We are all facing the reality of our environment...The Ainu are dying. And not only that, but all around the world, Kamuy are being cast aside. We just have to do the best we can."_

_Horohoro was facing ahead, ignoring her. After wiping his eyes, a look of shock and revelation crossed his face. He asked slowly and pronouncedly, "What about the burdock fields?"_

_Pirika's eyes grew wide with worry. She had a bad feeling._

_Kororo looked down in curiosity as Pirika asked, "What burdock fields?"_

"_Pirika, just tell me..." Horohoro started. "...Please. The one burdock field that we started when we were just little. That one, it's the only one for miles that's spread into multiple acres. The fields we planted for the ghosts of the Koropok Guru."_

"_Horohoro, don't ask that...Come on—"_

_The young Utari dashed ahead, his muscular legs unable to be breached by his little sister's. He heard a faint "Horohoro—!!!" from behind, but he needed to see for himself. He knew that the burdock fields weren't all right._

_But that didn't prepare him for the shallow coldness of the once fertile, green fields._

**A/N's**

Hello! Been a while, I guess.

I just wanted to point out some, I dunno, "Ainu notes" from this chapter. I've written enough to make a mini-textbook, so if you're curious, here you go!:

"Utari" is Ainu language for "comrades," and many of the Ainu prefer to be called "Utari" as opposed to "Ainu" (which in itself, means 'humans.' But if you read Shaman King, you should know that!).

"Kamuy" means "Gods" in Ainu.

The welcome mat in front of Pirika's apartment door is actually the Ainu flag, designed around 1970 (as the Ainu had apparently not felt the need to create their own flag. Which I actually kind of admire). As a matter of fact, Ainu homes do usually have a mat that is woven to look like their flag (I...forget where in the home it is supposed to be located, though. Gomen nasai, minna!! -peko-)

I have gotten a few reactions to Pirika's tattoos. Don't spite her for it! They're traditional, and if you've ever seen pictures, they are very beautiful. Also, the tattoo practice is pretty much dead in Ainu culture, so those of you who think it's utterly disgusting to ink your lips can rest a little. But we will mention more about Pirika's life in the next chapter that takes place in her house, where she will go into her relationship with her ethnicity.

Also, I know, I KNOW already, that in the English language manga, they refer to the wide, beauteous leaves as "Butterbur" or something. Also, if VIZ's is the version you normally read, you're probably also wondering, "What the heck's a Koropok Guru?" I will explain these questions:

Okay, I really don't have that much against VIZ's "Butterbur" and "Koropokkur." As a matter of fact, they sound quite ethnic and cool that way (smile). However, I went to my Japanese teacher a while ago to ask him what he could teach me about the Ainu, and since then I've looked into a lot of their early legends and language. In a certain book, they do mention the legend of the Koropok Guru. This means, "persons who dwell below," and to spell it this way is closer to the Ainu pronunciation of these legendary people's title as opposed to the Japanese's "Koropokkur" pronunciation. I will use both when I refer to them, so as to keep all of my readers happy.

Speaking of Koropokkur, burdock leaves are the ones that they hide underneath and build their shelters below. For those of your who don't know what burdock is, it is a bristly leaf plant (also known as a thistle...yes, like Eeyore eats in _Winnie-the-Pooh_) that comes in many varieties. The type that Kororo is fond of is called "Greater burdock," or "Gobou" in Japanese. The Japanese use the taproot of immature burdock as a common ingredient in cooking.

On a non-Ainu note, I spelled Tokyo, "Toukyou," because of a few complaints I've gotten on OTHER stories for not spelling certain names with long vowels where they are needed. I tend to try and write names and such so that people are familiar with the terms or can easily pronounce it by sight, _especially_ if they know limited Japanese. But I also totally understand the other end of it—spelling something so that it isn't correct as a romanized term. Either way, I hope you aren't pulling your hair out over it. It's really not worth it.

(A great, cheap, rather painful way to get yourself bald, though.)

Is there anything I forgot to clarify? O.O;; I hope not! I mean, I don't want to bore you forever (if I am, you should have stopped reading already like I would have). But if you do have any questions, feel free to Private Message me or ask while you review.

A big 'ARIGATOU GOZAIMASU' to all of my readers and, especially, my reviewers. This is my most successful story so far, and I've grown attached to it, so thanks for the support!

Posting again soon,

SS


	7. Distress of a Princess

Immediately, the room was flooded with an overwhelming presence.

The pandas began wailing all over the estate in unison. They had not the control to keep their fear to themselves, like Ren and Anna did.

Only Anna could have predicted what was to come.

The ominous bearing wasn't entirely, visibly manifest to Ren, though, until Yoh peeked out from under his bangs.

His pupils had dilated to beyond the edge of his irises. A dark void had come out from within Yoh's spirit to form within his eyes. It was terrible to see, yet no one could ever have coaxed their vision away from the otherworldly gaze.

His wide, pitch-black orbs probed the room on another level—from another dimension, while his expression mangled itself from one of innocent charm to sheer, scary power. His smile...a chilling crocodilian grin, every tooth visible and pointed. His ears were perked and sharp, acute; they were ready to respond to any sound directed at him.

Yoh's white cloak rippled at the force, billowing up as though a rush of wind surged upward from under it. His huge pants whipped around his legs, also being bowled over by absolute power.

Anyone could have been horrified at the sight of Yoh at that moment.

Stray, oily black hairs of Ren's brushed his face now and then, unable to hold their slicked position against the rush of Yoh's sudden surge in furyoku. Losing focus and beginning to wonder if his steadfast weapon over Anna's neck was important enough, he quickly pulled his hand away from the Shaman Queen.

He had what he wanted now, anyway.

"Heh," he laughed against the wind. "This was almost...unbelievably easy."

Yoh clenched his fists at his sides, white wrap still flying all around him, and then clenched his teeth. Through a tightly closed jaw, he uttered, "How was it 'unbelievably easy'?" This comment was unnecessary for him, for he could answer any question that he had in this state. But he wanted to keep Anna up to speed on what was going to happen.

Ren lowered his head at an angle that twisted his features. He looked truly scary as well. "I knew it. I knew that this whole thing was unstable. And to think that I could have been the Shaman King, sparing us all from all of this."

Anna's hands were plastered to the lucullan red armchair, each keeping a tight hold on the fabric. She felt very in danger, but then Yoh turned toward her.

"_Keep anchored to your chair,"_ echoed his voice in her mind. Now levitating just a little bit off of the ground, he turned his eyes away to keep his focus on Ren.

_Tch,_ she thought to herself loudly, so that he could hear her_. Easy for you to say... _

Although her maternal instincts told her to cradle her center in protection, she reminded herself that she was better off securing herself to her seat _no matter what_.

As the tension did nothing but build, a loud rumble sounded through the sky outside. Their position in the uppermost level of Tao Ren's domain made the noise deafening, and Anna released one hand off of the chair to cover her right ear.

"Yoh, fight me."

-VEEN-

"I don't think you should be so pushy about that," he told his friend in reply, only an inch away from his face in a matter of a millisecond.

Ren's face was getting very hot since Yoh teleported so close to him.

It was because Harusame was poised across Ren's Adam's apple, and it was engulfed in an infrared blaze.

"Wha—!!?" Ren accidentally sputtered. He grew impatient and cursed, "Get away from me right now!! Chikushou yo..."

Yoh tore the katana away from him, a flame grazing Ren's pointy beard. The tacky goatee vanished in undetectable ash instantly.

"I've had enough!!! You won't **FIGHT ME**?!!" Ren yelled impatiently. A smile circumstantially dispersed itself across his lips. "You...you seemed very eager for me to get my...'**FILTHY,' WEAPON**...away from your precious Anna!"

"Why so eager?" Yoh shrugged. He appeared silly, so lax and abated in his overwhelmingly powerful state. "I would like to hear, from you, exactly what is troubling you so much about me. About why you attacked Anna, without the intent to even hurt her."

"**GRAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!!!"** Ren lept to his chair, the distinctive pointed hairdo growing sharper. His cape had begun to flap from the growing might of its own master, who wielded not just his shining kwan dao. It was now accompanied by another weapon.

"Meet something," Ren declared, smirking, "...that even you cannot compete against."

Yoh, hovering in the air calmly, looked on with his haunting black eyes.

"This is my Lungchuan Wushu. It is an instrument of death that is comprised of nothing. Nothing, that is, except for a long, straight, pointed, double-sided blade. It is made of the finest golden Pudao, and it can pierce through even your 'Great' heart."

As in a threat, the extraordinarily long blade whipped toward Yoh's throat in Ren's deft grip.

"YOH!!!!" Anna screamed in shock. The wind rattled all of the windows violently, but she only worried for her husband.

"Don't...Anna..." Yoh told her. "I'll be fine."

"LIKE HELL YOU'LL BE! PREPARE TO PERISH, IF YOU ARE WISE ENOU—!!!!"

"Shut. Up."

"Guh...I..."

Ren gasped. Yoh had made his sword to float on its own, and he grasped the Tao's throat as though circling around to his back, around his fifteen-foot Lungchuan Wushu, and catching the cunning warrior by his neck was but one step.

Anna shivered in her chair, but kept her gaze steady. Thunder roared outside, pressuring the already force-filled room that they all shared.

_What?_ Ren thought. _Can you...can you read my mind...?!_

_Yes._

_How?_

_You know, you are actually calmer when you are safe from others' eyes. Like here, in your consciousness._

_You...you don't sound like Yoh..._

_That's because I'm not Yoh._

_What are you talking about? _Ren was biting his lip, hoping for more air than what he was receiving through his constricted windpipe. _I can __**feel**__ your expression bend along with your thoughts behind me. I know that your voice is coming from Yoh's spirit._

_My spirit is one and the same as Yoh's. Now calm it down; you're a little tense and you __**know**__ that I came here for a reason._

_First, tell me who you are._

_Then, Ren, you have to say everything aloud. Tell, out loud, why you wanted to test me and my constancy; what you noticed about Manta's whereabouts; why you were expecting such an easy fight from me...all that good stuff..._

_Tell me WHO—!_

_Asakura Hao. And Asakura Yoh. But you know, we are, collectively, one person. Asakura Hao._

Ren gulped unsuccessfully through the searing grip. His body grew tense.

Anna had never seen Ren so obviously nervous, and wondered what Yoh was choking him so long for.

_Yeah, right...kono yarou..._

_It's true. Can't you tell? How else would you like to try and explain it?_

Tao Ren felt Hao's mouth smile mischieviously...as if he was relaxing, as if this was going to turn into a game. It made Ren emotions flare inside, but he simply smirked in return. _He_ was going to be the one to make it interesting...

_Asakura, why in hell would you want me to spill all of this stuff out loud? I know now that you can read minds._

_Anna must hear it all. Now if you think anymore without saying anything, I will make sure to give you a battle that you won't forget._

_...That...is what I wanted._

With a gigantic _whoosh,_ Yoh lept back and grabbed hold of Harusame's hilt.

"You're not the only one who can use a double medium—!" Ren exclaimed, still smirking. "Keh!!"

The "Asakura" man wore an expression of complete confidence and coolness. His slake attitude _was_ all Yoh...but then again, it was all Hao, too.

"**BASON!!!!**" Ren beckoned to his spirit, already in the kwan dao, **"INTO THE LUNGCHUAN WUSHU!!!!!!!**

"OVERSOUL!!!!!!" He lunged toward Yoh with marvelous speed, his thin body cutting the air with grace. His weapons danced and clanged against the ablaze Harusame, which simply deflected the two glowing blades. 

"Oh? Not going to keep this interesting?" Ren asked, panting only slightly.

"I'm just going to wait and see how long you'll actually last," he responded.

"Fu...you act like you're not even trying."

"I don't need to. We should all realize now that I have combined furyoku. I'm not even using a double medium."

Ren blinked. "Don't...need to...????"

"HEY!!! YOH!!!!" Anna snapped angrily. "YOU TOLD HIM ALREADY?!?!?! ABOUT THE SHARED BODY—"

Yoh turned his head to Anna as Ren continuously lashed one weapon, then the other, mercilessly against poor Harusame in rage. "DON'T...**NEED...TO..!?!?!?!??!!?!?!!??!**" The Tao ground his sharp teeth so hard that they were sanded against each other.

"-yawn- Uh, yeah," Yoh told her sheepishly, taking one hand off of Harusame's hilt to scratch behind his neck. Those deep, dilated black pupils of his hid behind closed lids from his wife. "Suman, Anna."

"'SORRY'?!!" Anna practically jumped out of her chair. (Ren was still venting on Harusame, by the way.) "OH-HOH, NOW YOU'RE JUST SHOWING OFF!!! READING MINDS WHENEVER YOU PLEASE?!! YOU'LL GET IT!!!!!"

"Anna, I'm kinda busy right now..."

"Well, I told you he'd be this immature." With another sigh, Anna slipped down into her chair, breathing hard. Her cloak whipped around her face in all directions, from the windows being thrown open and pushing gusts of wind past her to the clashing titans battling in the room.

"God, where is the aspirin when you need it?" she groaned. Thunder roared outside once more, shaking the pagoda.

Yoh flew up and sprawled at the ceiling to avoid anymore damage to his beloved sword. _He IS powerful. I mean, he cuts through the flames at every swipe. But..._

_He can't reach the blade itself._

"Oi, Ren," Yoh asked. "Um...can you stop it? This is getting kind of old, and I _did_ come here to help."

"Well," Ren replied. He stopped thrashing his halberd and his lungchuan wushu, but kept them steady for a continued assault after Yoh quit ticking him off. Spitting off to the side before speaking, he resumed with, "That's sure not what your little _alternate personality_ told me. If you want an interrogation, you're gonna force it out."

"It's not an alternate personality..." Yoh told him quietly. He frowned and scratched his head. "I'm not sure if you get it. We _are_ the same person now."

"DON'T MOCK ME, YOU TWISTED—"

"To fully defeat Hao, he had to complete his incarnation,**" **came Anna's voice from the armchair.

"What on earth..." Ren's weapons sunk slightly towards the ground. "...are you _talking_ about?"

"Are you deaf?" she snapped. She wouldn't stay quiet any longer; she could say anything more forcefully than Yoh, and she wanted this to be clear. "You are aware that Hao's soul was split in two when he was last reincarnated, twenty-two years ago. Hao's sheer power in that incarnation became so great, so immense through his early life that if he was not stopped, our world would be worse off than it had ever been. He had learned throughout time the key to manipulation—of everything. The elements _and_ the people of our world. Nothing could stop him in the Shaman Tournament that began nearly ten years ago."

With a deep breath, she pushed against the arms of the chair and stood upright.

"But the Great Spirit works in unusual ways. If Hao was born whole in this life, he would have gained even more power than _half_ of himself did. So, the power of infinite souls, the animated combination of all living beings, decided the destiny of Hao's spirit the best it could. Hao's soul split and created Yoh Asakura—the part of Hao with no memories of his past lives, **no** drive, no elemental control, and no cruel mind-reading ability.

"But there was something there that helped Yoh defeat Hao."

"Yoh didn't defeat Hao!" Ren exclaimed. "That bastard is right here in front of us, with monstrous black eyes!!"

Yoh blinked sadly. _"Monstrous"...?_

"He did. **WAIT** until I explain."

Ren became quiet and scoffed.

"Yoh was born with Hao's heart and happiness. He had inexhaustible forgiveness, and also stole Hao's ability to _cleanse_. There is power in Innocence.

"Of course, the Great Spirit had no way of controlling whether or not Yoh used that power to 'defeat' Hao. That is why I was incarnated once again to guide him. It wasn't just a coincidence that I was Hao's mother, Asano-Ha, in the life of his earliest memories. I gave Yoh the training and support he needed at all times, without ultimately knowing how he would have to conclude the Shaman Tournament.

"By separating Hao into two people, the half fueled by the Spirit of Fire grew to be empty emotionally, and tried to control everything. The half that was Yoh became able to take in the goodness in life, without the biases of power-hunger and the hurt that Hao endured in his past lives. He didn't develop his furyoku as much, but gained friendship, direction, and love.

"When it came time for the final fight of the Shaman Tournament, Hao was in control of all that would happen. Yoh won because...

Hao wanted it that way."

She paused to glance quickly her husband. His pupils were slowly returning to their natural size, and Anna took this as a signal of Yoh's growing ease.

Knowing that this comfort meant Ren would not attack again during their visit, she continued her speech with a sigh.

Why was life after life after life so complicated?

"While Hao might have been the greatest form of absolute power on Earth, save for the Great Spirit, this did not blind his supernatural intelligence. He realized himself that he needed to be stopped.

"Hao's complexity failed him; he simply wanted Yoh to become strong enough to cleanse him. If Hao couldn't purify his jaded soul, he knew that he'd end the world with the hate of more than a thousand years. And that would have been utterly pointless.

"This is why, time after time, Hao constantly wanted Yoh to become stronger. He prayed that, when the time came, he could finally be dominated. He was ruined, drowned in hate; he cried for the peace that he was unable to reach inside.

"So, because Yoh didn't develop his ability to kill, but cleanse, he overcame Hao's evil and freed him. But...it was all because, ultimately, Hao urged for it to happen."

Anna huffed. _The END._

Ren wore a blank look, bowled over by the woman's explanation. She had made Hao sound like the more _helpless_ of the two twins.

"How could you explain all of that as though you're the narrator of your own life?"

She tucked her hair into the black hood over her head. "It isn't my life; it's Yoh's. And besides, anything I didn't figure out myself, I could surely have gotten out of Yoh."

More in the mood for talk now, he disengaged his Oversoul. The Tao skeptically asked, "Then how come the voice that comes through to my mind is Hao's, _Yoh_?"

Eyes almost fully within the borders of his irises now, Yoh looked at the room on this plane of existence. "Because the part of my spirit that is Yoh could never read minds."

"But Yoh still dominates Hao, yes?"

"You know, I don't like to be talked about as two separate people..."

"Answer me, Asakura, and I'll stop asking!"

"...I guess. So?"

"I'm just checking, that's all."

Yoh smiled. His teeth didn't appear quite as pointy as they had been. "Were you scared, Ren?"

"NO I WAS NOT."

"Shut **UP**, kono bakatachi!"

Ren's lips closed, and his mouth became small at Anna's command. Yoh responded promptly with a "Hai!"

Strolling to the place in-between them, still wincing at indiscernible pain, the woman engulfed in black tapped a finger to her lips.

"To think that the first Legendary Warrior was freed seven years ago." She pursed her lips. "And now, we shall attempt to free the fourth."


	8. Yes, I'm Back in Blue

Yoh peered curiously at his wife for a moment, and then a smile graced his face. "Fourth, mm?"

Anna looked back at him. "Not _quite_ yet."

Ren looked on expectantly as well, but he was bewildered, not impressed.

A sudden surge of wind circled Anna, and the black hood that had been sheltering her head flew off. Black dress blowing, Anna trembled and then eased. She had begun to glow a brilliant bright blue…and the hue only intensified as thunder rolled across the clouds outside once more.

Yoh and Ren shielded their eyes when the light became too much, but Anna's features remained the calmest they had the entire day. Her eyes opened; they were now glazed with a heavenly light tint. When her billowing black garb was completely illuminated so that it looked like a piece of the blue sky, the color shot up in a bright beam right through the roof of the pagoda—and, to Ren's shock, it caused quite a bit of damage.

Perhaps it was a little more than just an intense cerulean radiance.

When the mysterious power had left the room, Anna huffed satisfactorily and brushed herself off. Slumping back in the red armchair (which she was growing quite fond of), she simply stated, "NOW we shall free the fourth. You didn't think I wasn't going to act as soon as possible, did you, Yoh?"

"Why would I have let you know otherwise, Anna?" Yoh laughed.

The blonde shook her head. "Because you like to communicate telepathically for no reason?"

The long-haired man blinked and touched a finger to his lips. "…Yeah…"

"Nuff said."

The couple's eyes settled back on the Tao. His eyes were transfixed on oblivion, mouth hung open in utter disbelief.

"…Anna, do you think he's allri—"

"EE!!! WHU—?!!" Ungodly shrieks poured out Ren's mouth as he held his head, looking up through the hole in his castle roof. "WH-WHAT THE—?! WHAT WAS THAT!!!! **YOU!!!!!**" His right index finger flew in the direction of Anna.

"Yes?"

"**WHAT DID YOU JUST **_**DO?!!?!"**_

The woman looked on, unintimidated by Ren's waning stability. Yoh and she were about to challenge him, and she really did not know how they would do it. But one thing was for sure: they needed to break his ice somehow.

* * *

_Toukyou_

"I've tried to reach him, but he was too hurt to even acknowledge me. Not only that day had he found out that our home changed so much, but the field we'd began was really what kept his faith alive. It told him that the land was okay, and that he could make a difference. Since it was gone, he shoved the snowboard in my face and ran away crying; heartbroken, outraged…He was so upset by all that…" Pirika looked left, where on the wall, a white snowboard decked with flowing blue and black patterns hung.

"I think that ever since that time he's doubted my loyalty in our Ainu way of life, maybe because I couldn't save our burdock field," she explained plaintively, tearing up a little. "But in some ways, I have remained even more dutiful than he in what the Ainu stand for."

Across the room, Ryu scratched his head—Toukyou was not the ideal setting for an Ainu woman, so why had she fled her home village?

Matamune listened in silence, his wise cat eyes downturned in solemnity.

Hana, who was sitting on Pirika's cross-legged lap on the floor, looked up at her with empathy. She could see that the boy was deep, deeper than many adults, and she smiled.

"Well," she finally huffed. "You guys, though…I think you finally got my brother out of his funk. Maybe now he'll think more clearly."

"How'd we do that?!" Hana spat.

"Hana-san…" Matamune warned. He could see that the boy was confused by what Pirika had said…and that made for outbursts.

"No, I'm serious!" he said, more loudly this time. Pirika leaned back as Hana got off her lap. Standing in the middle of the room, he clenched his small fists. "Here I am, worrying about what I did to set Horohoro off after he's been through something that really affected him, and I just don't get how me crushing an important stick…or whatever!…could possibly be of any _help_! I don't even know what to think anymore…or what to do…"

The rest of the group looked on uncertainly. Though they didn't know how to comfort him, they all sympathized…he was only a child, after all. Someone of six years was bound to be rattled by something that he didn't understand.

Ryu finally walked over and knelt down beside his little master. One of his great hands clapped Hana on the shoulder while the boy looked down at the carpet.

"Bocchan…Don't worry so much. You put way too much weight on your shoulder."

Hana sniffed, but he wasn't crying.

"You know what, Hana-kun?" Pirika called out with spirit. "You don't have to feel bad about breaking that stick."

He and Ryu looked up at her together. "But I do," Hana started. "I know that it must have taken a lot of time and effort to carve it; it was really pretty. But I don't even know what it _was_!"

"You know, the person who made it wouldn't be mad." Pirika grinned, her tattoo sprawling fully. "I carved that ikupasuy."

Hana's sniveling ceased in an instant. His eyes widened, and his mouth fell open ever-so-slightly. "You carved that—?! You carved that…that…huh??"

"It was an _ikupasuy_," Pirika told him with emphasis. Turning to face the snowboard on her wall, she explained, "That's what an Ainu prayer stick is called. I carved that for him while he was still in the Shaman Tournament."

"Wow…" Hana sighed in awe.

"Yup!" She asserted. "It was really more of a memento at first…I didn't want him to forget me. But he kind of used it to amplify his shamanic ability in battle after a while…It must have really meant something spiritually to him. It's just great to think that no matter how angry he made himself out to be at me, he never chucked the thing. He probably still used it, being that it was in the clothes he was wearing.

"And when you accidentally cracked it, Hana…he got really emotional. I think that no matter how much distrust he has in other people, he must really at least care for and think about those he's left. And even, **hypocritically**, still considers himself Ainu."

"How is he not Ainu?" Matamune questioned.

"-Tch-," The lady blew between her teeth. "He sure has lost his sense of community. He can't attend important religious ceremonies, because he has lost his ties to our village chief. He didn't have pierced ears…did he?"

None of the three others could recall any jewelry on the rough shaman. Pirika continued.

"I think that most important, though, is that he hasn't kept true to keeping Ainu ways alive. I'm a teacher here in Toukyou—a professor on the Ainu language, culture, customs, religion, everything. I mean, I know that I live in the city, but I am still Ainu. I go to Hokkaido to see our father and the people of our village every chance I get. …I'm ready for marriage, too." She blushed a little with a smile. "Everytime I've gone up to visit, my tattoos have grown. Now, I'll be able to marry the man I've been promised to. He is only half Ainu, but this is commonplace now. Very rarely can you find a pure Ainu man to carry on whole heritage. My father is very pleased with everything I've done...Even if he's grown worried sick over his stupid, secluded, forest-hermit son!"

"He really thinks that about Horohoro?" Ryu asked in surprise.

Pirika lifted her hand, grabbing the opposite tattooed arm and massaging it softly. Her voice quieted. "No…he doesn't. And he's dying.

"I'm the one who wishes that my brother would feel the same happiness, the same energy that I do whenever I put on an attusi-spun robe. I wish that he had a sense of connection…I can't even say I know what he's doing to better his life, or enjoy it. It seems that his love of snowboarding has fallen out of the picture…" The woman's blue hair swished as her eyes turned once again to the hanging plank. As her eyes sparkled with withheld water, she thought about how useless it was here on some wall in a Toukyou home.

Pirika imagined it under Horohoro's feet, wielded against cold, bright snow.

A tear finally falling, she wiped it away from her pale cheek. "It's a wonder that Kororo is still by his side. She's probably all that keeps him sane."

Hana's heart skipped a beat; he remembered seeing Kororo's broad, lush leaf trailing behind her, her flying outside…

"She's missing."

"What?" Pirika revolved and looked down to face Hana.

"We gotta find her!" Hana announced. "She must have gotten real scared of him when he got mad…But I know that she isn't there for him right now."

Pirika's large, indigo eyes grew, her expression one of incredulity. "Oh wow…I don't know what to do about this, but I'm sure it's serious."

"I know!! He was really kind to her, when I saw her helping him," Hana sighed.

Ryu, standing tall, hit his left palm with a determined fist. "Tomorrow, we're going to make sure to find her. We'll solve this whole problem."

"T-tomorrow?" Hana sputtered. His arms flung out, and he cried, "This is serious! We need to help him!"

"It's late, Hana-san," Matamune told him softly, hovering down to him. "I'm sure that your aunt Tamao will be very worried about you."

"I'm not tired, Matamune!" his master assured him strongly. However, he noticed that the very word "tired" gave him the urge to yawn. "I'm worried for Kororo…Horohoro…"

Pirika beamed delicately as Ryu lifted the boy up into his arms. "We're gonna head out, now, Bocchan. Do you want to go out to the car?"

Rubbing his eyes, Hana nodded. When he was set down, he toddled groggily over to his spirit so that they could walk out to the sidewalk together.

"Daijobu, Hana-san," was heard just before the door closed when Matamune slipped out. It's okay…Don't worry…

For that last minute, Ryu and Pirika were left to themselves in the chic, undersized apartment. Pirika smiled at the pompadoured man across from her.

"You guys are really incredible," she told him sincerely. Her tone was sweet. "…Especially the kid."

"Ah, he's got a lot that he thinks about," Ryu said. "He's a hard-worker, too. Always kept busy."

"…" Pirika shrugged her shoulders, still smiling. "I don't think I'll worry so much about Oniichan now. I know him…he'll be way more open to you after that first visit of yours. But, he'll really be missing Kororo." Eyebrows straining, she pleaded, "Find her for him, okay?"

He grinned and gave her a thumbs-up. "I _know_ we'll do it."

Her eyes glittered in silent thanks. Pirika came a little closer to Ryu, her arms stretched out for him…

_Ah, Pirika-chaaaan!_ Ryu held out his own arms for her, puckering his lips and keeping his eyes closed.

He didn't see her stop on a dime.

Sternly, she asked, "What the heck are you doing?"

Ryu blinked a couple times. His face dropped, arms falling limp along with his hair.

"-Sigh-…." His eyes rose once again to look at her. "So you're getting married, huh?"

Pirika's cheeks lifted as she smiled. "Yes."

Ryu glumly looked to the door, and then bid her, "Oyasumi-nasai, Pirika-chan."

"Goodnight to you too, Ryu-san." She waved. "Oyasumi."

He shut the door and stood on her mat for a minute. _Darn…_

Ryu's feet echoed as they strutted toward the elevator.

* * *

His heavy foot hit the plane like a quake, tapping to a steady rhythm. If he could have looked out the window in his row, he would seen a beautiful night sky. It looked like a deep blue bowl full of dazzling, starry jewels. 

"…I'm Jumpin' Jack Flash, It's a gas! Gas! Gas!!" Mick Jagger's vocals burned through the earphones of Chocolove MacDonnell's old portable CD player, rejuvenating his ears after a long period of cold silence. He was one of those types who had a surreal connection with music, and true rhythm. This was why the carpet under him was pounded to a point where it was unavoidable not to hear it or even feel the aircraft shake to the beat.

His wide pink lips expanded in a smile. He was heading back to the grand, gritty, incomparable city of New York—his hometown. And he had not much else on his mind but thoughts of home sweet home, which mellowed him out almost as much as the Rolling Stones did.

-Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.-

Chocolove thought nothing of his weight. He couldn't judge himself by appearance. Not that he would ever have cared, anyway. But he knew of it, of course, and he knew that it was all stress…

"Mreoowwr?" The small ball of spiritual energy, Mic Jaguar, growled by the ear of his master. He had tried to make Chocolove aware multiple times, but the shaman hadn't responded over the music.

Finally, a chuckle came from him in acknowledgement. "I've heard you, Mic. Every snarl."

Because Chocolove was boisterous in the first place, the fact that he felt the need to talk over his music lifted his voice to an even higher volume. The other passengers on the airplane raised eyebrows and murmured about the man that they were already staring at, and the impatient flight attendant tapped her toes repetitively to the floor.

Ignoring his spirit once again, the hefty man just hummed along to the unmistakable sharp twang that was Keith Richards's guitar work.

The spotted specter became nervous now. Chocolove was drawing a lot of attention to himself, and he had busted out of prison just before their previous flight. The way his big feet shook the plane with each tap (which woke up the old man trying to sleep in front of him), his larger-than-life figure, his sleek black shades…the man screamed for attention even when he was silent.

And now he was talking to a ghost.

Clacking high-heels made their way down the aisle, and Mic meowed once again, loudly, into Chocolove's ear.

"I know everyone's staring; I can feel it." Chocolove turned his head to the jaguar spirit. His grin fell, and lips pursed in perplexion, he asked, "I sure hope you're not fussing about that, Mic—"

"IF THE BIG MAN IN THE ORANGE CAP AND SUNGLASSES WOULD NOT MIND, THE PERSONNEL AND PASSENGERS ABOARD WOULD KINDLY ASK HIM TO STOP TAPPING HIS FOOT AND TALKING TO HIMSELF," bellowed through a voice amplifier the size of a small palm.

The female flight attendant pat her shiny auburn hair, tightly wrenched back in a bun, with satisfaction. She was now noticed by the other passengers, despite the man a few feet away from her shaking the aircraft constantly throughout the trip.

But had the subject of the announcement detected her?

"…" Chocolove's thumbs twiddled and he paid no heed to…(the name on her tag) Missy.

Missy's nostrils flared, and she gripped her little microphone more tightly.

"Remember!!" came a perky call, jolting some of the people in their seats, "On the flight, it is important to pay attention to all of the attendants, who try and make for the most pleasant experience possible for ALL flyers—"

"The song's almost over, just be quiet," Chocolove told Mic unnecessarily loudly.

"**EXCUSE ME?!?!**" The attendant was ostensibly on edge.

As if deriding the woman, the shaman's feet tapped softer…and softer…until they stopped, and the plane wasn't affected at all.

Narrowing her eyes and jutting her lips out in a pout, Missy tapped Chocolove's shoulder. The other travelers gawked on as the man twice the attendant's size took off his earphones and faced her direction. "Yes?"

"Sir, I would like to announce that frankly, you are causing some turbulence."

"Turtle fence!!!" Chocolove shouted out of the blue.

The entire plane couldn't believe it; they intently watched the face-off.

Eyes bugged out, Missy fumed, "What is your name, sir?"

"Chocolove. Chocolove McDonnell," he told her.

"Mr. McDonnell, I would like you to take off your sunglasses so that I know you are acknowledging me."

"I'm afraid I can't look at you."

Hairs, like guitar strings plucked too hard, flew from her severe bun. Eye twitching, she hollered, "YOU KNOW VERY WELL THAT YOU CAN AND YOU WILL THIS INSTANT!!!!" with the force of a hurricane.

Heaving a deep but casual sigh, the man complied. With his beefy hand, he gripped the tiny dark lenses and pulled them off his face.

"Better?"

Missy looked down at him, and at once her hand cupped her mouth in revelation. The pupils were unnaturally milky; irises hazed as well. It was painfully obvious that the glossy orbs were unable to interpret images. _He's blind…_

Not like that changed anything.

"Yes, Mr. McDonnell. Now, to let you know, if you shake the plane anymore with your obscenely annoying foot-thumping—"

"Are you going to throw me off?" He smiled. "I can guarantee you, I've had skydiving experience. It would be no problem."

Missy huffed, "I am not joking, Mr. McDonnell. You must not disturb our passengers; it's in the policy."

"I can tell you're not joking," he said matter-of-factly. "I'm a comedian, you know."

"I am not starting conversation, I am warning you to stop rattling the plane and upsetting people trying to rest on this eleven-hour fligh—WAAGH!!!!"

The plane shook; an airstream had rushed over the back of the plane. It was absolutely jerking—luggage crashing out of compartments, passengers roughly jostled about in their seats, yellow masks falling in front of everyone's face the instant the roaring wind passed over.

"Wh-what in the world was that??" the nervous attendant called out from the floor. Missy had lost her palm-sized mike to the uneven impact of whatever had shaken the aircraft. Struggling, she got up and brushed herself off briskly.

The instant she had regained her composure, she gaped at Chocolove and her eyes grew big as saucers—along with everyone else's on the plane.

The pilot, oblivious, was unheard by anyone in the compartments behind him. His voice informed the rest of the plane through loudspeakers, "I am very sorry for that unexpected bit of turbulence. I am sure that everybody is all right, and we shall be touching down within fifteen minutes. Please reach your friendly flight attendants with any questions you may have."

Chocolove heaved a heavy sigh. "Man, I'm glad we're touching down soon, huh, Mic?" He smiled and breathed deeply. "It's like I have all this energy just _held in_. Maybe sitting so long is finally getting to me."

The plane's eyes followed him as he unbuckled and stepped awkwardly out into the aisle, excusing himself past Missy. "Sorry, but I'm going to go use the bathroom."

The woman scuttled largely away from Chocolove, and the rest of the seated passengers leaned toward their windows as he made his way down the plane.

They were afraid to come in contact with whatever was making his body glow bright blue.

**A/N's**

YES! What a chapter. It's finally updated :)

Well, I did get a complaint or two about the last chapter being so short. To be honest, that was done on purpose…I figured I'd return to my 1,500 word-or-so entries, being that perhaps my stuff got really long-winded. But I'm glad that, for the most part, people seem to like the bigger chapters. It makes for a much easier way to get in important parts of the story.

I don't think that I need to write any Ainu notes here; the stuff in this section was pretty self-explanatory. But if you have a question of your own—not only about the Ainu, but anything—I would love to hear them in a PM or a review.

Another thing people have asked me since last chapter is, "How old are Yoh and Anna (and other characters)?" Well, as we all know, Hana is six. That's the only real set age here, and to be honest, it doesn't matter too much -sweatdrops-. But here, I'll explain Yoh and Anna:

Since it's 2007 in this fic (and, currently, in real life), Yoh and Anna are either twenty-one or twenty-two years old, depending on what month it is. This is because Yoh was born on May 12, 1985, and Anna's birthday is July 22 of the same year (happy belated golden birthday, Anna!).

Like I said, it means nothing, really, at this point. But there you go :)

Lastly, I would like to thank you all for reading this chapter. I'm sure a lot of my readers will be pretty confused with some of the stuff that happened up there, but I can assure you, it will all make perfect sense in due time. Some of you may have even figured out exactly what is going on!

Please take the time to review, now that you're finished. And I hope you like the next chapter!

-SS


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